


Heart of Hell

by Chosha_Hoshiko



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Demon! Izaya, Demons, Fluff and Humor, Izaya's Usually Behind Them, Literally going to Hell, Living Together, M/M, Personal Growth, Shizuo Makes Some Bad Life Choices, Sketchy Acquaintances to Lovers, Soul Selling, Wishes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:26:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 50,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26761327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chosha_Hoshiko/pseuds/Chosha_Hoshiko
Summary: "You’ve reached the main branch of Hell’s Human Resources office, sales division. May I have your verbal affirmation that you are indeed here to sell your soul?"Heiwajima Shizuo's life has taken too many wrong turns lately. Getting fired from his bartending gig, stumbling into a second-rate thrift store instead of a therapist's office, and buying a cheap-ass grimoire instead of a self-help book are all just a few of these turns. And the worst comes when he actually uses the damn thing and summons a demon into his apartment...who turns out to be an overeager customer service rep from Hell named Izaya. An overeager customer service rep who is all-too-happy to convince Shizuo to sell his soul.But would that really be so bad? When Izaya offers Shizuo a trial deal to help him figure out what he wants most in life, the ex-bartender can't help but take it. After all, he might just be able to rid himself of his monstrous strength forever if he does. Or maybe he'll discover something he wants even more...
Relationships: Heiwajima Shizuo/Orihara Izaya
Comments: 87
Kudos: 111





	1. Speak of the Devil and He Shall Appear

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everybody!!!! My god, it feels like it's been a while since I posted anything, haha. I'm so sorry to those of you who might've been waiting for the new fic I promised back when I finished "Carmine Coffee"! I know I said I would be releasing it shortly and...well, it obviously wasn't shortly.
> 
> To be honest, I was bouncing around a few different fic ideas, from a cruise ship setting to my first dip into princes and medieval royalty fics, but I ended up settling on this one. Finally!
> 
> I'm not sure yet how often I'll be updating it, but I'm shooting for once a month, and probably on the first or fifteenth of every month depending on how busy I am.
> 
> In any case, I sincerely hope you all enjoy it! See you at the end of the chapter!! <3

Heiwajima Shizuo wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he tried to sell his soul, but it certainly wasn’t this.

“Uh…come again?” The ex-bartender stared blankly at the massive hole that had opened in the air before him, knees beginning to ache as he knelt on the floor before it. He could care less about his knees though when there was a customer service representative from Hell smiling cheerfully at him through a scarlet-edged window in reality.

“I said you’ve reached the main branch of Hell’s Human Resources office, sales division. To assure we’ve connected you to the right department, I just want to affirm that you’re here to sell your soul.” The smiling man said happily, his wine-red eyes glittering as he flashed Shizuo a winning grin. “May I have your verbal affirmation that you are indeed here to sell your soul?”

“Uh…” Shizuo said again, staring at the unexpected sight. That was definitely a demon in front of him. Shizuo could see red horns poking out of his raven-back hair, twisting up towards the sky like too-dark red licorice. His teeth were also unusually sharp, small fangs poking out over red lips perked in a wide grin. Shizuo was pretty sure there was a tail flicking around in the space behind the man, too, tipped with a scarlet spade that glinted wickedly in the light of his computer.

But outside those unnerving characteristics, this man looked perfectly normal. Like any other office worker clicking away on a computer, a headset slipped over his ears and a microphone angled to his mouth to speak to his clients. His suit was pressed and clean, his face was clean-shaven, and there was an ID clipped to his lapel with his name written on it.

Orihara Izaya.

An average customer service rep.

Who was helping Shizuo sell his soul.

“I’m, uh, yeah.” Shizuo managed to snap himself back into reality – whatever kind of reality this was – rubbing the back of his head awkwardly as he nodded at the smiling rep. “I’m trying to sell my…soul.”

“Wonderful!” The man sang happily, eyes sparkling as his tail flicked eagerly in the air behind him. “Well, you’re in the right place, sir. My name is Izaya and I’ll be assisting you today! Let’s get started with some simple questions.”

Izaya’s fingers flew across his keyboard, the demon humming pleasantly as he pulled up something on his computer.

Shizuo just watched him dumbly, the whole situation feeling too surreal for him to react to.

He wondered if it was too late to hang up and dial a mental health help line instead.

“What is your name?” Izaya asked before Shizuo could think too hard about escape, red eyes locking eagerly on him.

“Uh, Heiwajima Shizuo.” Shizuo got out, shifting uncomfortably on his knees as Izaya typed the information in.

“Age?” The demon asked next, voice sweet and cheerful.

“25.” Shizuo replied.

“Current country, state or district, and city of residence?”

“Japan, Tokyo, Ikebukuro.”

“Ooh, Ikebukuro. Nice city. Lots of business for us there.”

“Um…sure.”

What had he gotten himself into? He should leave. He should walk out of his apartment right now before anything else happened.

“I believe I’ve found you, Heiwajima-san!” Izaya sang happily, spinning once in his chair before typing something else on his computer. “Please look at the window I’m pulling up for you and tell me if you see something you recognize.”

Shizuo glanced to his right in shock as another rift in reality opened, this one looking in on…his old high school?

“What the hell?” Shizuo gawked at the window as a crowd of students in blue uniforms wandered by, chatting loudly in the hall as they headed to their classes. Their shoes squeaked over the too-clean tiles, backpacks swaying on their backs as they went about their lives, completely unknowing of the shocked eyes staring at them.  
“That’s…that’s Raijin.” Shizuo said slowly, looking back at Izaya as the demon watched him eagerly. His red eyes were wide with fascination, his tail flicking slowly back and forth like he was waiting for a chance to pounce on Shizuo.

The demon blinked when he saw Shizuo looking back at him and shot him an even wider grin, settling back in his chair to type on his computer.

“Yes it is. Your old…high school, was it? It’s been renamed to Raira now, but everything else is basically the same. You recognize it?”

Shizuo nodded, glancing back at the window.

“And how about this? Does this house look familiar?”

The window closed and reopened, replaced by an image of his parents’ house. Except…except he was _in_ this image. There he was, playing on the front lawn with his younger brother, Kasuka, the two of them watched with a careful eye by their mother on the porch.

“This was years ago.” Shizuo whispered in astonishment, watching as a younger version of himself lifted up the ball that had fallen to his feet, shouting at Kasuka to go long so he could throw it.

_“Perfect.”_ Izaya practically purred, nodding his head in satisfaction as he closed that window. “Just one more now, sir. Do you remember this?”

Shizuo’s hands clenched into fists on his lap as his old bar appeared before him now, the slimy bastard who’d gotten him fired wiping away at his old counter, whistling to himself and winking at a female patron down the counter.

Another past version of Shizuo came walking out of the back, and stopped short, glaring at the man’s back as rage bristled over his shoulders.

He remembered exactly what came next.

“…Yes.” Shizuo got out through gritted teeth. “I remember. Shut it off.”

“Yes sir.” Izaya’s reply sounded a little mischievous as he closed the window, humming in his chair while his fingers typed. “Now then, I’ve definitely got the right man pulled up here, so let me just keep this file up and we’ll get started with the sale.”

Izaya’s red eyes flicked over the screen Shizuo couldn’t see, his tail swishing in the air casually, almost hypnotically, until he sat back in his chair and turned to Shizuo with a beaming smile.

“Well, Heiwajima-san! State the nature of your request, if you please. What exactly are you selling your soul for?”

He leaned in a bit, eyes glittering brightly as his tail twitched in the air. “Revenge, perhaps? On this man who ruined your life? Maybe an ex that pushed you over the edge a few months ago? Or do you want money? Filthy riches to shove in the faces of everyone who’s wronged you over the years?”

Izaya leaned back and steepled his pale fingers, smiling coyly at Shizuo over the tips of his perfect fingernails. “Anything you desire is on the table, Heiwajima-san. Fame, fortune, revenge, justice, whatever you want to call it. I’m here to make it all come true.”

The voice spilled temptingly into Shizuo’s ears, seeming to pull him closer to the window, making the ex-bartender lean in on his knees without meaning to.

He’d imagined being tempted by a demon if he were to try this before, but he hadn’t imagined it feeling like this. It felt so…comforting.

The voice wasn’t sinister or seductive. His words weren’t dripping with false promises and sinful temptations. It sounded like he was just genuinely reaching out to Shizuo, offering him anything he wanted. The voice of someone who was there for him, someone who was finally willing to help him turn his life around.

…It felt so _good_ to have someone be there for him.

“I…” Shizuo cleared his throat, leaning back on his knees and staring at the candles he’d been burning in his room. Their wicks were getting a little low, wax melting into sepia pools in the plates beneath them as tiny wisps of smoke drifted through his room.

He glanced to his left and saw the cheap grimoire he’d bought at that second-rate thrift store a week ago for no good reason. He’d honestly just wanted to buy something to get rid of the feeling of failure crashing down on his shoulders from losing another job, and a self-help book had sounded like a great (cheap) idea. Yet somehow, that stupid thing had wound up in his hands instead.

Now it was just laying there, the discarded, sticky price tag curled up beside it as its fake-yellowed pages lay open to the summoning spell. It looked like such a joke, just like the rest of his candle-filled room, with a hasty pentagram painted on the wooden floor in red.

This was serious, though. There was a legitimate demon in front of him, ready to take his soul.

“I…There is one thing I want.” Shizuo said firmly, looking back up at Izaya, who was back in pre-pounce position, red eyes shining with excitement.

“Anything, Heiwajima-san. Just tell me.” The demon purred comfortingly, smiling at Shizuo as he poised his fingers over his keyboard.

Shizuo took a deep breath. Then he looked Izaya dead in those red eyes and spoke his wish.

“I want you to turn me into a human.”


	2. Better the Devil You Know Than the Devil You Don't

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is a schedule? I thought I knew. I wasn't planning on posting another chapter until November 1st, but here I am, choosing to do otherwise. XD In any case, I might end up posting more frequently than I initially thought. Maybe twice a month instead of once a month. Bi-weekly, or something like that.
> 
> We'll see if I keep this up! See you at the end of the chapter! <3

Izaya’s image seemed to freeze in the reality window for a few seconds. If it wasn’t for the slowly blinking red orbs, Shizuo would’ve probably started trying to smack the rift to get it moving again.

The ex-bartender shifted awkwardly on his knees as they began to ache, the hard, wooden floors of his room starting to get to him. He watched the demon customer service rep self-consciously, each slow blink of the red eyes only increasing his discomfort further.

“W-Well?” He finally demanded, glaring defensively at the demon rep as his hands clenched into fists on his knees. “Make me a human. That’s my wish. I don’t care how stupid it is, just do it.”

Izaya blinked again, another achingly slow blink, then tilted his head curiously to the side. His horns seemed to twist in the air as he did so, curling inwards towards the middle of his head as they spiraled higher. His tail began to flick again, a wicked-sharp spade slicing through the air. His fingers remained poised over the keyboard, the only unmoving part of him.

“A human, sir?” Izaya’s voice rang suddenly in the air, dragging Shizuo out of his prolonged examination of the inhuman creature.

His eyes met Izaya’s, the confusion and curiosity within their scarlet depths a bit too vivid for Shizuo’s liking.

“Could you explain what you mean by that?” Izaya continued, plastering another smile on his face as he turned to face the rift more fully. He gestured at Shizuo with a single hand, the smile turning into a more condescending expression as he added, “I mean, you already _are_ a human, as far as I can see. That’s why you’re contacting ‘Human Resources’, isn’t it?”

“I want to be a _normal_ human.” Shizuo tried to explain, glaring at the demon. “I’m a monster, alright? Or a freak or a beast. Whatever you want to call it. I’m not like other humans.”

“No human is like another.” Izaya said breezily in response, his airy voice drifting over Shizuo’s ears like silk. “You’re all thrillingly unique. Different goals. Different reactions. Different feelings. Different faces.”

Izaya laughed, his teeth glinting in the light of his monitor. “All so different, yet you try to shove yourselves in these pits of similarity. All trying to be the same.”

His horns began to curl again, reaching up towards the sky as if to make their owner taller in his excitement. He quickly shook his head though, the horns settling back into their original positions as he clapped his hands once and shot Shizuo another sugary smile.

“But now’s not the time for me to rant about that, is it?” He chirped cheerfully, lowering his hands to his keyboard again and looking at Shizuo expectantly. “So what exactly do you feel makes you so freakish, sir? What do you want me to ‘fix’ about you?”

Shizuo really didn’t want to talk about it. Couldn’t Izaya just use his weird demon powers and open up another rift in Shizuo’s mind? Watch the freakish things Shizuo could do on his own?

Shizuo shifted uncomfortably on the floor, trying hard not to avert his eyes from the red, too-fascinated gaze boring into them. Eventually, he took a deep breath, and the words spilled from his lips.

“I’m too strong. And I hurt everyone because of my strength.”

Izaya blinked at him a little bit. His eyebrow raised a notch on his demonic face. “Right. You have super-strength and you can’t control it.” The rep said slowly, sarcasm dripping from every word. He sighed and brushed a strand of black hair out of his face, giving Shizuo a stern look. “Sir, I’m not going to be able to help you if you don’t tell it to me straight. Your middle school syndrome fantasies are riveting to listen to, but I’m here for reality.”

“That _is_ my reality!” Shizuo gnashed his teeth, glaring hard at the rep. He could feel annoyance beginning to simmer in his veins, a familiar rage licking at his ribcage as the rep’s doubtful eyes looked him up and down. “Look it up on your weird memory computer or whatever. And then get rid of it!”

Izaya heaved a great sigh, the look he shot Shizuo saying that he definitely thought this was a waste of time, but he obliged the glaring blonde nonetheless, turning to face his monitor with a grimace.

“Keyword search for super strength, cuing up.” The demon rolled his eyes as his fingers flew over the keyboard. “And when it turns up zero results, will you then _please_ tell me what you actually-”

A loud ding cut Izaya off mid-sentence, the demon rep twitching a bit in shock as he glanced at his screen.

He paused as his eyes flicked over it, the red orbs widening just the slightest bit, and he raised a single finger into the air to tap on the screen. He tapped a few times, squinting and leaning towards the monitor as if to make sure he was really seeing the sight before him.

He scrolled through a few more results, tapping again on each one as Shizuo watched him, feeling half-triumphant that he was being proven right, and half-mortified that he was so freakish the god-damn demon had to double-check what he was seeing to make sure it was possible.

After a few more scrolls and mixed-feeling-inducing taps, Izaya finally leaned back from his screen and turned to face Shizuo again.

“I’ve come to reassess my initial opinion regarding your complaint.” The demon said in the most professional tone he’d used yet, smoothing down the front of his suit as he shot Shizuo another composed smile. “You, my good sir, are most definitely a freak.”

Shizuo winced at the harsh statement, fists tightening on his legs. “I know.” He muttered. “So help me.” He met Izaya’s bright red eyes, letting pure desperation trickle into his own. “Please.”

Izaya hummed a few times, cocking his head as he looked Shizuo up and down, a newfound curiosity kindled in the depths of his blood-red eyes.

“…If that is what you desire, sir.” Izaya said slowly, leaning back in his chair. “But are you sure you want to give that up?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Shizuo asked with a scowl, glaring at the rep. “That’s all I’ve wanted for years! To just get rid of my strength and live like a normal person!”

“But will that actually help you learn to be a normal person?” Izaya replied calmly, watching Shizuo with an unreadable gaze. “You’ve been living your whole life with this strength, Heiwajima-san. You’ve made a reputation off it. From what it looks like, you’re practically infamous in Ikebukuro now thanks to your immense strength. Do you think just ripping away such a key aspect of your life won’t come with consequences?”

Izaya leaned forward, fingers steepled, as he looked Shizuo dead in the eyes. “Do you think people will stop trying to attack you?” He challenged first, red eyes unflinching. “That they’ll see you lost your strength and leave you alone? If anything, won’t the people you’ve fought in the past come back for revenge?”

Shizuo tensed up at that, his jaw clenching as he thought of all the faceless gangs he’d faced over the years. From random punks in the street to actual organized color gangs, he’d taken on a lot of unpleasant people. He’d never given them a second thought before after wiping the floor with them, but looking back on it…they probably hadn’t forgotten him.

Shit.

“What about your family?” Izaya suggested next, Shizuo jerking in place as that horrible statement sank into his mind. “Without your strength, you couldn’t protect them very well, could you? What if a group decided to harm any of your loved ones as payback for harming them in the past, and you could only watch?”

Kasuka. His parents.

Shizuo’s head ducked lower as horrible images ran through his mind. All his foolish choices over the years, all those stupid fights he’d gotten into. They were coming back to bite him now. If someone he cared about got hurt because of Shizuo…it wouldn’t be any better than if he still had the monstrous strength to begin with.

“And I won’t even start on how hard it would be to change your entire lifestyle in the blink of an eye.” Izaya continued, his words crashing on Shizuo’s lowered head like a tidal wave. “My guess is there’s an underlying quirk with adrenaline that gives you this strength, and removing that would remove a few other things as well. An abnormal healing rate, a higher metabolism, a stronger immune system, maybe a few other things you’ve noticed about yourself that I wouldn’t be able to list off here. All gone.”

The demon began tapping on his keys again, the clicking filling the air as Shizuo stared at the wooden floor below his knees.

“You can’t charge into fights and walk away unscathed. You can’t eat whatever you feel like it or follow this abhorrent smoking habit of yours and expect to be fine. You can’t take a bullet to the leg and walk it off without even noticing, thinking you just slipped in the rain.”

The demon’s voice dropped to a slight mutter as he added, “Honestly, who doesn’t notice they’ve taken a bullet, though? You really are an incredible freak.”

The demon’s voice raised in volume again after that, prompting Shizuo to lift his head as well and meet his eyes.

“Everything you know about life would change, Heiwajima-san. And it might not change for the better. You need to be prepared for that.”

Izaya waved a hand in the air, his tail whipping through the space behind him as if to accentuate the motion as he continued speaking. “This isn’t some simple wish like asking to become a billionaire overnight, Heiwajima-san. I’m not endowing you with riches or fame, and giving you a leg up in a world that you know how to function in.”

He leaned in close to his screen, giving Shizuo the sternest glare the ex-bartender had seen on the demon’s face this entire time. “I’m stripping away what’s been the entire base of your existence to this point in your life.” The demon said gravely, trapping Shizuo in his stare. “And I’m leaving you vulnerable, weakened, and clueless, with a target painted over your head.”

After holding the stare for a few seconds, Izaya shrugged and leaned back in his chair, shooting Shizuo another bright grin. “Not very good customer service, if you ask me. So I just want you to make sure you know _exactly_ what you’re getting into. After all, I pride myself on maintaining my ever-present status as employee of the month! Best customer satisfaction rate overall, you know. I'm wonderful like that.”

Shizuo swallowed hard, ignoring the smiling demon's too-cheery words as he watched those horns begin curling inwards again.

He’d never thought about any of that before. Would his life really change that much? He’d always assumed it would get better as soon as he lost his strength, that everything would just magically become…more normal, or something. But how normal could his life actually get when he’d done nothing but draw attention to himself all his life? And would it really be that hard for him to function if he lost his strength?

Shizuo glanced again at the grimoire at his side, dread settling heavily in his stomach as the stupid spell taunted him from the open pages.

He was seriously regretting ever setting foot in that bookstore. He’d summoned a god-damn demon without thinking through what he was asking it for. Hell, he hadn’t even called a friend beforehand to make sure it was a good idea or not. He could’ve at least given Celty a heads-up or something! She would’ve had some solid advice for him!

Advice that probably didn’t involve selling his soul to a demon for a half-thought wish.

Shizuo’s hand drifted through the air towards the grimoire, twitching with the urge to shut the stupid thing and cancel this idiotic venture. That’s all it would take, right? Closing the book and burning it up? Then he could forget he’d ever made this poor decision and-

“If you’re having second thoughts,” Izaya’s purring voice slipped into his ears again, freezing Shizuo’s hand where it was. "I'd like to inform you that for contacting a demon, your soul already has a fifty-year demerit on file. Just so you know.”

“A what?” Shizuo asked, the dread compounding like a two-ton truck in his gut as he glanced back at the smiling demon.

“A soul demerit.” Izaya chirped happily, eyes glittering at him. “It’s a mark on your soul for evaluation after you die. When you go up before a soul committee, they’ll see the demerit and know that you’ve committed some kind of sin which will prevent you from reincarnating or passing to heaven. A fifty-year demerit means you’ve incurred a soul debt of fifty years of punishment in Hell for your sins.”

“Fifty years?!” Shizuo gaped at the demon in horror, stumbling to his feet and gawking at the rift before him. “All I did was make a call to a customer service line!”

“You summoned a demon with the intention of selling your soul.” Izaya corrected flatly, giving Shizuo a look. “Just because we’ve streamlined the process to be more user-friendly and professional doesn’t mean the actual act has changed at all. Fifty-year demerit. Even if you hang up right now and never so much as sneeze on a priest again.”

Shizuo backed shakily away from the rift, staring at the pentagram on the floor of his apartment with a sinking feeling. He’d screwed up. He’d screwed up so badly. Fifty years of punishment were in store for him. And for what?! He didn’t want to remove his strength anymore, not if it meant the people he loved would be in even more danger. He wasn’t even going to ask for anything and he’d already doomed his own soul.

“What have I done?” Shizuo groaned, placing his hands on his head and pressing harshly against his temples. “God, I messed up so badly.”

“I think there’s still plenty of things you could do to make the best of this situation!” Izaya sang chirpily, oblivious to Shizuo’s strife. “Like, for example, actually making a wish instead of just letting your fifty-years of punishment go to waste.”

“I don’t even know what to wish for.” Shizuo growled, lowering his hands and glaring fiercely at the smiling rep. “And at this point, I don’t think I want to try wishing for anything, either.”

“Now, don’t be like that.” Izaya chided, wagging a finger playfully at Shizuo with a bright grin. “There are plenty of wonderful things to wish for! Perhaps ask to just reduce the strength. Ask to cure your anger issues. Ask for a stress-free career that you won’t get fired from so easily. Ask,” Izaya’s eyes glinted mischievously. “To learn how to control your strength, perhaps.”

Shizuo froze at that last one, heart pounding furiously in his chest as he stared at Izaya. “To…control it?” He asked slowly.

The demon hummed happily, tapping one more key on his keyboard and grinning as a new rift in reality opened up beside Shizuo.

Shizuo glanced over at it. There was some kind of demon there in the rift, of a much different species than whatever Izaya was. This one looked more like the monsters Shizuo had grown up hearing about since he was young.

It had fiery red skin with thick, curling ram horns on its head and even thicker, shaggy white hair that reached to its shoulders. Tendons of pure muscle seemed to wrap its entire body, bulging menacingly along with the massive tusks that jutted from snarling lips on a demonic, red face. Black tattoos littered the demon’s skin, and a thick, spiked club was gripped firmly in its hand.

Shizuo couldn’t tell if he should be afraid or impressed that the club fit so naturally in that massive red grip.

“What is that thing?” Shizuo managed to find his voice and ask, staring at the creature’s piercing gold eyes.

“An oni.” Izaya said smoothly, resting his chin on one hand as he observed Shizuo’s reaction. “Pretty common demon down here in Hell. They’re mostly hired as security guards by the border where sinners’ souls enter. They keep all the souls in line. They also run torture yards and punishment chambers. Very strong. Very violent. Usually short-tempered. Big on justice and punishing the wicked.”

Shizuo watched the image of the oni rotate slowly in the rift, its snarling face glaring out at nothing as its hand squeezed the black club.

“Oni go through a lot of training so that they know how to use their incredible strength on the sinners around them.” Izaya was saying. “From primary school onward, they basically focus on nothing but strength training classes and temperament coaching. There’s also tons of oni rage therapy programs. Some yoga classes, too. My co-worker Namie teaches part-time at an oni yoga studio. She’s a bitch.”

Shizuo blinked at that last statement, but Izaya switched gears and closed the rift with the oni’s image before he could say anything, pulling Shizuo’s attention back to him.

The red-eyed demon smiled at him, steepling his fingers again as he looked Shizuo up and down. “I have a special offer for you, Heiwajima-san.” He purred, eyes glinting in a way that made Shizuo more uncomfortable than kneeling on the floor for almost an hour ever had.

But as much as Shizuo was preparing for something horrible to come out of Izaya’s mouth, he never would’ve guessed the words that filled the air next.

“I’ll turn you into an oni and let you live in Hell temporarily to learn how to control your strength.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now things are finally getting started! Sorry, it's taking so long for the action to happen (pretty strange to say that when a demon's already been summoned lol) but don't worry! We'll start getting to the fun stuff soon.
> 
> I'll be adding and updating tags as I go along because I'm not fully sure what tone I want this fic to go in yet. Most of mine start off fluffy and end dark, but this one is somewhere in between right now and I'm not sure what'll happen next. I guess I won't know 'til I write it, right? Hope to see you guys in the next chapter! Bye! <3


	3. The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry that this chapter went up a few days late - I was pretty focused on the election going on in America right now and that sucked up a lot of my free time. 
> 
> Anywho! No more excuses beyond that, though: here's the next chapter! I hope you guys like it! <3

Shizuo deleted the half-typed text on his phone for the fifteenth time and sighed, brow furrowed as he stared at the screen.

Celty’s most recent message to him was glowing on the screen, the words pulsing gently before his eyes as he held the tiny device in the air above him. He had no idea how to respond to them. After all, what did he even say?

**[Are you out of your mind?!?! Why in the world would you make a deal with a DEMON?!!!? Are you feeling okay?!?!]**

Yeah, that basically said it all.

Shizuo sighed again, planting one arm over his eyes as he let the other flop across the surface of his bed. The phone felt heavy in his hand as he stared at the darkness behind his eyelids.

What had he been thinking? Now that he was off the call with the demon service agent, all the poor decisions he’d made were crashing on his shoulders.

He’d bought a grimoire at a second-hand bookstore and summoned a demon with it. He’d tried to get rid of his strength by selling his soul, but he’d let the demon talk him out of it. Then the demon had talked him into a new kind of deal that Shizuo had actually agreed to: selling his soul in order to literally _go_ to hell.

Didn’t sinners usually try to stay away from hell? What was so screwed up in Shizuo’s mind that he actually sold his soul for a temporary trip down there?! 

Shizuo groaned, pressing his arm harder into his face as his hand squeezed the phone at his side.

It wasn’t so bad, he tried to reason with himself, although the guilt and regret racing through his mind clearly said otherwise. After all, it wasn’t like he’d actually made the deal just yet.

Shizuo relaxed a little at that thought, finally lowering his arm to look at the world again as he brought his phone back in front of his face.

Right, he hadn’t actually sold anything yet. He was on a trial period. A three-month free trial that Izaya offered after realizing how indecisive Shizuo was.

He could still see the impatience flickering in the demon’s red eyes as Shizuo ranted and raved with himself over whether he should become an oni or not. Then the slight cunning edge in their red depths as he sweetly offered a trial deal.

_“Three months down in hell to get you acclimated to the environment and the oni training opportunities.”_ The demon said briskly, waving his hands in the air as his tail flicked behind him. _“Followed by one week back in the human realm to see how or if the training is helping. From there, you can decide if you want the training to continue at a full price. Sound fair?”_

The demon had promised Shizuo that since it was just a trial, there wouldn’t be any soul demerit incurred. He’d had to pull a few strings to find demon contractors who were willing to work on Shizuo’s wish for free – something about demons not usually taking on trial clients since they backed out before incurring soul demerits – but it had all been arranged.

Izaya had happily made the trial contract appear in the air before Shizuo, a slew of demon names signed at the bottom, and a single space left for Shizuo’s signature right beneath Izaya’s own elegant scrawl. Three months in hell as an oni. One week with the humans. No charge.

It had seemed reasonable, especially considering Shizuo already had fifty years of demerits “on file” just for making the stupid call.

So he’d signed.

Shizuo let out another sigh and began typing up a new response to Celty, determined to send this one this time.

He knew she’d be upset that he hadn’t talked to her about this terrible life choice first, but at least it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. When Shizuo really stepped back and looked at it, he was probably pretty lucky that he’d landed on a call with Izaya.

Despite his weird interest in humans and obvious lack of a moral code, the demon genuinely seemed to enjoy his job and took his customer service role in it very seriously. He’d helped Shizuo think through his wish and made sure he knew what he was getting into every step of the way.

Shizuo glanced over at the floor of his apartment briefly, eying a red brochure laid on top of the now-closed grimoire on his floor.

Izaya had made it materialize as “review material” at the end of their call. Apparently, it contained some basic information about hell and instructions for Shizuo to safely navigate to the demon world once it was time for him to leave. Izaya promised to have everything set up within twenty-four hours, hell-time, which meant about eight hours on earth. He also told Shizuo that he’d be acting as a personal liaison for the blonde throughout the trial period, just to make sure Shizuo’s transition was as smooth as possible.

He was really going above and beyond.

_“I wonder how much he gets paid.”_ Shizuo thought absently as he turned his attention back on his phone, finishing up his current text and hitting send before he could think twice. _“He probably deserves a raise.”_

Shizuo set his phone on his stomach and stared at the ceiling of his apartment, waiting for Celty to get back to him.

Images of the demon Izaya flickered through his mind, the twisting horns and the flicking tail rising up endlessly as Shizuo stared into space. He wondered what the demon was doing right now as he tried to set things up for Shizuo’s arrival.

He’d seemed so excited at the end of the call, his red eyes glittering as his tail blurred with motion behind his head. Shizuo was pretty sure his horns had started their upward twisting again, too, and his hair had seemed to lift a bit off his scalp, pointing up towards the sky like little mini-horns. If the big grin that had spread over his face was anything to go by, he was probably having a blast getting everything ready.

Shizuo really hoped he hadn’t made a terrible decision.

His phone buzzed in his hand and Shizuo looked down at it, expecting to see some kind of rant on the screen from his best friend.

He saw his last message – **[Feeling okay, dont worry. Didnt make a full deal.]** – hovering right above a series of very long, very angry texts from the headless Dullahan.

**[It doesn’t matter if the deal was full or not! Demons are BAD NEWS! All they want is your soul, Shizuo. They just want to take your soul and they’ll do anything to get it – even offer “partial” deals.]**

**[That demon is probably manipulating you right now, making sure that you’ll love the trial so much that you’ll ask for way more than you intend to when you make the full deal.]**

**[That’s how they get you! They hook you with all the extra, little things, then trick you into asking for things so big, you’ll be working off soul demerits for CENTURIES!]**

**[It’s probably a free trial, right? Just cancel after the trial! We can find a way to work your soul demerit down! We can talk about your problems, too.]**

**[You really should’ve talked to me before doing this. I’m here to help if you ever need me, Shizuo. You know that, right?]**

**[Right?!]**

**[Please tell me you know that.]**

Before Celty could text anything else, Shizuo sent a quick reply telling her that he knew, and apologizing for not calling her before summoning a demon.

He stared at that last message, wondering how his life had come to this, before shaking his head and sitting up on the bed, glancing back at the red brochure on the floor.

His clock ticked on the wall, reminding him of the time passing by before his departure to hell would come around. It seemed surreal to think that barely a few hours after making the deal, he was already going to be jumping into it. He wondered if all demon reps worked this fast, or if it was just Izaya.

“I should probably read the brochure.” Shizuo muttered to himself, standing up slowly from the bed and wandering over to the seemingly innocuous brochure and book. He picked both off the floor, setting the grimoire down on the dresser nearby and walking back to his bed with the brochure in hand.

It seemed pretty short, just a quick summary of the basic essentials Shizuo would need to know about before his trip.

He skimmed through the section on local politics, praying he wouldn’t get so deep into the demon society that _that_ would become an issue, focusing instead on the city structures and a few of the basic laws.

It seemed like there were seven major cities to keep track of, branching out from a single center metropolis called Pandemonium that was considered the capitol. Shizuo glanced at the map on the left side of the brochure, examining a few of the major spots listed in Pandemonium, including the throne of Lucifer, Lucifer’s palace, and something called the Pulpit. He chose to ignore the ominous feeling in his gut regarding the last one, dubbing Pandemonium the most likely place where the king of hell lived.

The other seven cities in hell all had crazy names of their own, ones Shizuo couldn’t really understand. There was Superbia, Invidia, Gula, Luxuria, Ira, Avaritia, and Acedia. Each of the wacky names probably meant something, but he wasn’t sure what. He honestly couldn’t tell the difference between the cities from just from the basic map, either.

It looked like each city ran by its own rules and had its own laws, separate from the others, with only a few basic laws passed down by Pandemonium to keep them in line. There was one leader called a Prince for each city, and it looked like the Princes determined everything that went on in their particular city.

Outside of the cities, there was a large ring surrounding the map that seemed to be some kind of border wall. One point on it was labeled “Customs and Immigration”, so that probably wasn’t far off the mark.

Shizuo’s instructions at the back of the brochure told him that was where he was going to end up after he traveled to hell, and that he had to be sure to pass through the Customs line, not Immigration and Judgement. Shizuo noted that the “not” in the instructions were bolded, underlined, and written in bright red so he wouldn’t miss it.

Probably an important step there.

His instructions also said to show the brochure to the border guards at Customs in order to pass through, but that he wouldn’t have to do anything else besides that. Izaya would meet him at Customs and help him out from there.

Shizuo flipped through the brochure again to make sure he wasn’t missing anything, but it really was a pretty sparse document. The map and the laws and politics took up most of it. The last two pages were just devoted to instructions and tips for travel.

“Guess he’ll explain more when I arrive.” Shizuo muttered to himself, his stomach flipping as his ears honed in on the ticking clock again.

There were probably only six or so hours left. Six hours until his trip to hell.

His phone buzzed insistently from the bed, prompting Shizuo to look over and notice Celty’s name lit up on the screen.

He threw down the brochure and picked up his phone again, dreading the Dullahan’s response to Shizuo’s short apology.

As he’d figured, the apology definitely wasn’t cutting it.

**[I don’t care how sorry you are! NEVER. DO. THIS. AGAIN.]**

The first biting message read, practically cutting into Shizuo as he read each word, flinching at the image of the angry smoke pouring out of his friend’s neck. Yep. She wasn’t happy with him.

As he continued to read through her messages though, Shizuo felt a little more at ease with his situation with Celty. Most of her following messages were the few things she knew about demons and the demon realm (mostly lots of notes about why you shouldn’t trust anyone or anything associated with demons in any way) and promises to check in with Shizuo as soon as he was back.

She even offered to take care of anything in his apartment while he was gone, and to smooth things over with Shinra once the doctor heard that Shizuo was ditching them all for a few months.

She really was his best friend.

**[Thanks Celty. Youre the best. Sorry I messed up.]**

Shizuo typed out the quick message, the brochure in his peripheral view a taunting reminder of the terrible mistake he’d made as he hit send.

Celty’s response came back only a few seconds later, filled with all the concern his voiceless friend conveyed so well through simple texts.

**[It’s okay – you don’t have to apologize. Just stay safe while you’re down there. I’ll see you when you get back.]**

Shizuo sent back a single thumbs-up, too ashamed to try typing anything else, then sighed as he tucked his phone into his pocket.

He stared at the brochure again for a while, not quite sure of what to do next. He could start packing, he supposed, but what was he even supposed to take with him to hell? He doubted any of his stuff would be useful. Human money probably had no value, his cell phone definitely wouldn’t have service, and if he was being turned into a monster, none of his clothes would even fit him.

There was literally no point in packing anything.

Nevertheless, Shizuo spent the next few hours combing through everything in his apartment, trying to figure out if there was anything he’d want to take with him for a three-month jaunt to hell.

He settled on basic hygiene products like a toothbrush and some toothpaste, his cell phone (for the pictures on it, if nothing else), a pair of shoes and a single bartender suit from his past job (again, just another memento), and a pack of cigarettes. Throwing in the brochure on top of the pile and shoving everything into a small, black duffel bag, Shizuo decided he was basically ready. 

Ready…for a trip to hell.

“What have I done?” Shizuo wondered out loud for the thousandth time in the past few minutes, checking his phone one more time to see if there was anyone he wanted to make final phone calls to before leaving.

Kasuka didn’t pick up – probably busy with another movie shoot – so Shizuo just left a quick message explaining he’d be gone for a few months. Celty already knew what was going on, and she’d tell Shinra for him, so he didn’t worry about that front. He gave Kadota a call and the two of them just chatted for a few minutes before Shizuo mentioned he’d be gone on a trip, and Kadota gave him some well wishes. And Shizuo wasn’t employed at the moment so there was no boss for him to clear things up with in the meantime.

He was set.

Just as Shizuo was slipping his phone back into his duffel bag, the clock on the wall ticking way too loudly once again, he heard a low rumble start up from the center of his room.

In shock, Shizuo glanced at the floor, the place where he’d been kneeling earlier that day while talking with Izaya. The faint red outline of the pentagram he’d spent a while scrubbing away after the call was still visible, reddish lines stretching across the wooden floors of the apartment. Something appeared to be _bubbling_ in the center of the pentagram, distorting and warping the wood as though it was boiling in the center of his room.

As Shizuo stared at the incomprehensible sight of boiling wood, he noticed a deep red color creeping up from the center of the roiling mass, spilling onto the wood of his apartment floor. Everywhere the red spread, the wood seemed to begin that strange boiling process, until the entire circle that had been outlined by the earlier pentagram was now a rolling mess of red, stopping just before Shizuo’s feet as he stood frozen in place at its edge. It almost looked like boiling blood, Shizuo thought with a sick feeling in his stomach, the churning sound of the boiling circle ringing in his apartment.

A massive face suddenly stretched into existence from the tumultuous red sea, its eyes like pits while a massive hooked nose poked out of the boiling mass around itself. A strange slit opened below the nose – probably its mouth – and Shizuo could see darker black liquid boiling inside. As the slit opened wider, revealing more of the unnerving black liquid, the sound of a clearing throat suddenly filled the air.

Shizuo blinked in astonishment as the face in the red sea began talking, reciting one of those pleasant, pre-recorded messages like the ones he’d heard playing in airports and train stations.

_“Please keep all of your belongings close by as you step into the portal.”_ It grumbled, voice ringing around Shizuo’s room and flooding his ears with its deep, bubbling timbre. _“Some items may be lost in transit due to unexpected turbulence in inter-realm transport. Make sure all belongings are securely stowed and that you remain in an upright, standing position. Gateway Portals absolves itself of all responsibility for lost or damaged items, including but not limited to cell phones, pets, bags, medicine, and extraneous body parts.”_

Alright. Yeah, he should probably ignore that last part.

Shizuo stared at the talking face, a slight trickle of fear running down his spine at the clearly inhuman creature speaking to him from his bedroom floor. This was actually happening, wasn’t it?

Holy god. He was about to walk into hell.

Shizuo gripped the strap of his duffel bag tightly, his eyes locked on the face on the floor in a mixture of fear and numb acceptance. It felt like a dream, even though the thing he was seeing was clearly very real. He could hear it speaking and he was almost terrified to step towards the pit of boiling blood on the floor, but at the same time, he felt so detached from it all.

He was going to do this. He was going to walk into hell.

_“This transport portal will arrive at the Main Border of Hell, Customs and Immigration, Port One outside of Superbia. Please follow the appropriate signs to your destination from there.”_ The voice continued, the blood around the face beginning to boil even higher as though it was preparing for something. _“Please step into the transport portal within fifteen seconds, or you will miss your transport opportunity. Fifteen…fourteen…thirteen…”_

Well, that was certainly not a lot of time to second-guess himself.

Shizuo took a deep breath, his fingers closing even tighter over the strap on his bag. With barely another second of hesitation, Shizuo squeezed his eyes shut and stepped inside the boiling pit. He could feel the liquid heat seeping around his legs, acknowledging his presence as the voice continued its count down.

Something felt like it wrapped around his legs, chains or vines maybe, and began to pull him down the rest of the way into the pit.

Shizuo gulped, keeping his eyes tightly shut and trying not to struggle or hunch over as the blood went further and further up his body. It went up to his chest and Shizuo became acutely aware of a new fear of drowning, and he only just opened his eyes and thought to take a huge breath, before he saw the demon’s face grinning at him with wide, excited eyes.

_“Thank you for traveling with Gateway Portals.”_ It seemed to growl, creeping closer to Shizuo as he sank down into his neck. _“Have a pleasant trip.”_ The face lunged and seemed to swallow Shizuo whole, his entire body engulfed in a flaming hot sensation, and he passed out in the pit of blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so exciiiiiiited! Next chapter, we're FINALLY going to get some action starting! And we'll get to see Izaya in person for the first time (our little demon didn't make a cameo this time around, but he'll definitely be taking over in the next chapter lol). I hope you guys are as excited for it as I am!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, even though I posted kind of late! Love you all! <3


	4. Raise Some Hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright guys! It's definitely looking like twice a month updates for me on this one. Once on the first of the month, then again on the fifteenth. That's what's I'd like to commit myself to, so you can feel pretty certain that that's when it'll be coming out. Glad we worked that out lol.
> 
> In any case! Do you guys have any recommendations for me for fics to read on AO3? I've got a few that I've been following, but these last few weeks, I really fell off the update track, and now there's so many more up! Do any of you have favorites (or ones you're writing) to give shout-outs to? Let me know down below if you do!
> 
> See you at the end of the chapter! <3

“Port One, Customs Inspection. Fifty extra bridges if I’m there before twelve!” Izaya breathed quickly, shoving the money in the harpy’s face as he latched onto its legs.

“You got it!” The bird demon screeched happily, its wings snapping out as far as they could before the demon shot off the ground, lifting Izaya with ease off the street and rocketing through the blood-red skies of Hell.

Izaya let his tail wrap tightly around the curled-in legs to hold himself in place, pulling his phone out of his pocket and humming as he checked it anxiously.  
A few messages from Shiki about if he could pull an extra shift this weekend, one text from Akabayashi complaining about more idiot sinners trying to bust out of immigration, two missed calls from Mairu and Kururi about who even knew what this time, and one cheerful text from Shinichi asking if they were going to get drinks again after work.

Nothing from Gateway Portals verifying that his client had arrived or even accepted transport, even though Gateway Portals had _definitely_ made it to his apartment by now. Maybe GP was cutting down on their update texts. Either way, Izaya was a little bit peeved not knowing if his client had walked into the portal or not.

“He _better_ have walked into it.” Izaya grumbled to himself, tapping his nail quickly against the back of his phone as he scowled at the screen. “I swear, transportation demons are the worst to renegotiate times with. You’d think they have absolutely no free time.”

“We _don’t_ have free time.” The harpy called down to him with a slight huff, taking a rocketing turn around a blood-red skyscraper and flipping off a disgruntled incubus he’d nearly barreled over with the maneuver. “Do you know how many hours I work, dude? Too many! Because there’s always some obnoxious, flightless asshole who wants to be ferried from one place to another and my damn company sends _me_ every time they want to go fast.”

The harpy paused and glanced down nervously at Izaya, perhaps sensing the deadpan glare the raven-haired demon was sending him. “I, uh, I’m obviously not saying _all_ flightless demons are assholes.” He said immediately, deep purple wings flapping once to betray his anxiety.

“Right.” Izaya said flatly, looking back at his phone. “Just get me where I need to go, okay? I got a human to guide around Hell and I don’t want him getting lost.”

“A human in Hell?” The harpy blinked in surprise before turning his attention on the traffic before him, ducking and bobbing around other flying figures as they sped over the streets. “Didn’t realize the tour groups took humans now.”

“I’m not a tour guide.” Izaya said irritably, flicking through his phone and refreshing his messages just to make sure GP hadn’t sent anything. “I’m a sales rep.”  
“Wait, like first contact sales?!” The harpy gawked at him, oil-pit eyes wide with shock. “This human sold their soul for a tour of Hell?”

“Weird right?” Izaya felt a smile slip over his lips nonetheless as a feeling of satisfaction curled in his stomach.

Humans were just so interesting. He absolutely adored his job, getting to mess with them, driving them to edges they would’ve never reached without his guidance. He’d forgotten how many times he’d won “Employee of the Month”, working out deals with humans that got them stuck with multi-thousand-year punishments instead of the few hundred years that most humans’ initial wishes actually costed. They were easy to manipulate but never predictable in how that manipulation pushed them.

He loved it.

And this new client of his, Heiwajima Shizuo, was the new shiniest toy Izaya had found to play with.

A toy that might just prove more…useful than most other ones.

“I’ll say. If they’re gonna end up in Hell at the end of this, why ask for a tour of the damn place first?” The harpy huffed in confusion, pulling Izaya back into the present as he pinwheeled towards the ground, swooping under a low black column that marked their entrance into the outer ring of Superbia.

Izaya peered around the legs and feathery body of his ride, noting the endless stretches of red fields laid out before them. He could see massive lines of black silhouettes huddled throughout the field, each trailing up to a small checkpoint building. The tall figures of oni trailed around the lines, every now and then one of the massive red demons grabbing a figure that was making a break for it and tossing them back into line.

Beyond all of this, Izaya could see a tall white strip surrounding by fire, leading up vertically into the sky. Even if he couldn’t make it out at this distance, Izaya knew the strip was a massive set of stairs, the only exit any of these condemned souls could hope to use if they got past the oni.

He didn’t spend much more time checking out the familiar sight of customs, though, focusing on his phone again as the harpy dove for the ground, wheeling towards a long, rectangular building off to the side of the checkpoints where a few other demons were occasionally popping in and out.

The harpy pulled up sharply just before he would’ve hit the ground, flapping in place a few times as he extended his bird legs downwards, talons digging in for extra purchase in the red dust.

Izaya hopped off the harpy’s leg as he landed, tail unwrapping gracefully and moving to dive into his suit pocket instead, searching for the promised extra payment.

“Here you are.” The sales rep muttered as he squinted at his phone, refreshing his messages again in frustration as his spade-like tail held out a handful of black notes. “Fifty bridges. Take ‘em and burn ‘em.”

“Thanks, sweetheart.” The harpy chirped happily, grinning at the money as he grabbed it, shoving it into a pouch wrapped around his feathered waist. “Hope to see you again soon. You free for lunch after your tour, by the way?”

“Scram, birdbrain. I’m not into feathers, be they on chicken-legged taxis or fallen angels.” Izaya responded without looking up from his phone, marching into the building he’d been brought to.

The harpy muttered some choice words of his own as he shot Izaya a fierce glare, rocketing off into the red sky as the sales rep grabbed the handle to the building before him and swept inside.

“Orihara-san. Off to screw with more mortals’ lives today?” A cold voice greeted him, impressively icy for the heat of the environment surrounding her, as always.

“Why, Namie-san, you know I always head to the human realm for purely business-related matters.” Izaya responded cheerfully, finally giving up and slipping his phone into his pocket as he flashed the demoness at the desk a charismatic grin. “To insinuate that I’m up there messing around for personal enjoyment,” He shook his head in mock sadness. “You wound me and stain the good name of our company.”

“Human Resources is a joke.” Namie responded unrepentantly, her eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms at the desk of the customs building. “The only reason I even work there part-time is because the pay for secretaries is insane. HR doesn’t even provide any resources for humans.”

“Sure, we do!” Izaya waved a nonchalant hand in the air as he walked up to the desk, leaning on it and keeping his grin trained on the bitter woman. “There’s an information bureau for new human workers, a profiling section with the status of their punishments, and even an appeal department to lower their sentences!”

Namie gave him a skeptical look. “Oh please. Everyone knows the department every human really needs is your so-called ‘human rights’ branch, and they do jack shit.”

“I don’t know what they’re expecting from us with that.” Izaya admitted with a shrug, checking his claws. “They’re in Hell. What rights do they want us to give them, exactly? But I’m not here to talk about our company. I have a client instead today! He should be arriving any minute now.”

“If he’s dead, you know where he’ll be.” Namie raised an eyebrow suspiciously, looking Izaya up and down.

“Ah, but he’s not dead, my lovely Namie.” Izaya giggled, delighted by the look of surprise that shot through even her cynical gaze. “My dearest little plaything has decided to sell his soul for a tour of Hell! Hilarious, isn’t it?”

Namie glared at him like she couldn’t tell if he was lying or not. “A tour of Hell?” She repeated skeptically, folding her arms. “No human in their right mind would want that.”

“Am I in the business of working with mentally stable individuals?” Izaya pointed out sweetly, smiling at her. “Trust me, he has no idea what he’s getting himself into here. But I intend to make him feel like he’s just made the best decision of his life.”

Izaya straightened up from the desk, shooting a winning grin at the still-shocked-and-suspicious demoness before him. “And that starts with meeting him right on time with a smile and a song! So can you just let me pass on through to local customs entry, please?”

Namie scowled and checked her register to search for incoming arrivals, clearly still not buying Izaya’s story.

“Incoming humans outside of immigration…” She muttered, flicking through the tabs with squinted, black eyes, trying to find the arrivals list for the next hour. She scrolled swiftly through the list once she found it, pausing at a certain name that didn’t fit the other demonic ones on the list.

“Heiwajima Shizuo through Gateway Portals.” She read aloud, peering up at Izaya.

“That’s my darling!” Izaya sang happily, leaning over her desk again despite himself to grin at the name on the screen. He could see the little green icon beside the mortal’s name that meant he’d boarded, and his estimated arrival was in just a few minutes.

Izaya glanced at the clock on the wall above Namie’s head. 11:57. Right on time.

“Let me through, Namie dearest.” Izaya said again, looking down at the scowling demoness with a smug grin. “Now that you’ve verified my story and all.”

Namie’s scowl was still fixed on her face, not a hint of concession replacing the suspicion still heavy in her eyes. “Orihara-san, what kind of game are you playing this time?” She asked coolly, her fingers nonetheless dancing over her keyboard to approve Izaya’s entrance. “I mean, I doubt this human asked to visit Hell of his own volition. You clearly tricked him into coming here. Now I know how much you love to play tricks, but bringing a human to Hell? Where’s the benefit in that?”

“Namie, Namie, Namie.” Izaya sighed, his tail swishing happily in the air behind him as he grinned even wider at the demoness. “I would _never_ reveal my plans ahead of schedule! You know that! And who says I’m looking for benefit? Maybe I’m just having fun.”

Namie gave Izaya a skeptical look, the machine before her beeping as it began to print out Izaya’s border pass.

“Your entire family is never ‘just having fun’.” She said unrelentingly, ripping the pass away from the machine and checking it over in her hand. “Whenever one of you does something, there’s an ulterior motive involved somewhere.”

A frown almost graced Izaya’s face at the secretary’s words, the spade-like tip of his tail twitching ever so subtly in the air in displeasure.

“I’d appreciate you not bringing up my family, Namie.” Izaya reminded the woman sweetly, holding out his hand for the border pass. “You know I don’t associate myself with them.”

“And yet you’re just like the rest of them.” Namie sighed, handing over the pass in resignation. “Whatever. It’s none of my business. Especially if it involves that family of yours. Just make sure the human goes back to where he belongs.”

“Oh, I’ll find him a place where he belongs.” Izaya giggled, looking down at his pass in glee and skipping back to the entrance of the building. “Don’t you worry about that! Also, is your yoga studio still doing No-Kill November oni discount classes?”

“Why in Lucifer’s name is that important?” Namie almost looked concerned at Izaya’s interest in her third job – the only one he hadn’t somehow dipped his claws in so far – but Izaya merely cackled and danced out of the building without saying a word.

He walked cheerfully around the corner of the building, holding up his pass at the black archway beside it where two oni were keeping close watch.

The one on the left narrowed his eyes critically at the pass, lurid yellow gaze burning every detail into memory and comparing its information to the checklist in his mind.

The one on the right gave Izaya a stare-down while his partner was doing that, an equally intense glare riveted to Izaya’s cheerful face. Izaya beamed eagerly at the glaring oni, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively to try pulling a different reaction from the hulking monster. The stoic guard didn’t even flinch, glare continuing to pierce right into Izaya without dropping an ounce of ferocity.

Eesh. Oni really were pissed all the time, weren’t they?

Eventually, the left oni grunted, stepping aside and waving Izaya through with a nod.

Izaya happily pocketed his pass and winked at the right-side oni, skipping past both of the massive demons and under the black archway.

The instant he walked through the arch, his vision shimmered slightly, the endless lines of black silhouettes he’d seen before suddenly shaped into vivid, detailed human figures. He could make out the individual faces, sizes, and shapes of the humans now, their differences suddenly thrust into stark relief against the red backdrop of Hell.

Izaya stopped to pause and stare at the lines of humans in glee, his heart pounding excitedly at all of the different emotions scattered across their faces. One would expect dejection or fear to be coating nearly all of them – these were sinners bound for Hell, after all – but there was a delighted mixture of unexpected reactions to be seen in every human face.

Some seemed resigned and apathetic, trudging along in their lines with barely a care in their eyes. Some were dazed or had eyes fuzzy with confusion, their heads swiveling as though they were trying to understand where they were. Others looked pissed, gnashing their teeth and scowling at everyone around them like they didn’t believe they should be here in the first place. Izaya saw streaming tears, eyes wide with panic, crazy smiles, expressionless frowns, anything and everything he could’ve imagined, painted over every kind of face below the earth.

Stunning.

There were no other words for it.

The human race was simply stunning in its diversity.

Izaya felt his tail whirring eagerly in the air behind him, a telltale give-away of the thrilling emotion rocketing through his veins. It was like a euphoric high every time he saw so many humans in one place like this.

He almost couldn’t stop himself from running over to them, asking them a thousand questions about their lives above, analyzing every aspect of their souls, trying his best to tear those souls into the tiniest pieces for him to dissect and rearrange.

Thrilling. They were thrilling!

Izaya squealed low in his throat, biting his lip harshly to stop himself as he took a step towards a current immigration line.

The sharp pain from his fangs and the blood welling on his lip broke him out of his trance, the horned demon quickly shaking his head and turning away from the line despite the buzzing in his blood.

No, no. He had to focus now. He’d left specific instructions for Heiwajima-san to follow in the brochure, so Izaya needed to be ready to meet him at Customs.

It certainly wouldn’t look good for the company if Heiwajima-san ended up stumbling the wrong place because Izaya was busy getting off on people-watching.

_“You’re above those silly urges, Izaya.”_ Izaya told himself, smoothing his clothes down and running a hand calmly through his hair, trying to ignore the euphoria still bubbling low in his veins at the sounds of the humans behind him. _“Tear yourself away for just a little bit. Customs, Customs.”_

Izaya nodded once, finally allowing himself to look around again, red eyes scanning his surroundings for a “Customs” sign.

Now that he’d passed through the archway, the humans’ faces weren’t the only things he could see. There were many more red-bricked buildings lined up alongside the streams of human souls, with various different signs and services advertised on their sides. A few coffee and snack shops here and there for demon workers, a few cash exchanges for demons working in the human world to convert their money into bridges, some more travel-related services for demons.

His eyes skimmed over flight-demon rentals and various bus services for newly arrived demons, his feet carrying him along the lines of buildings towards the far side of the Customs and Immigration complex.

There should be a much larger building he was looking for towards the end, a building where demons from the human world actually arrived and checked in with Customs. Humans who’d arrived via demonic transports were generally asked to move into one of the Immigration lines outside, most demon workers assuming that they were sinners whose souls had gotten mixed up with demon ones in transport lines on the way down.

It happened a lot, especially with portal services since they passed through a soul ether that actually transported human souls down to Hell. Humans always fell unconscious in the middle of the ether, and it left their souls open to being accidentally bumped, pushed, shoved, or dragged into a demon line rather than a human one if they drifted too close to a demon.

Disoriented humans arriving in demon Customs honestly were way too common. The only issue with that now was that if Izaya didn’t reach Customs fast enough, then the demon workers might ask Heiwajima-san to step outside into an Immigration line. And if the blonde didn’t remember the very explicit instructions saying _NOT_ to enter that line…well, bad things could happen.

Izaya finally spotted the massive building at the end of the line, a shining obsidian sign on its face declaring “CUSTOMS” for the world to see. Flashes of light poured out from one of its sides every now and then, the flashes many transport portals often made upon spitting out their passengers. Streams of demons poured in and out, chatting about the human world, human disguises peeling or melting off their skin to reveal the demonic bodies beneath.

Perfect!

Izaya sped up his pace, reaching the entrance of the large building in a few strides and sweeping in as quickly as possible.

His eyes scanned the inside of the clean, professional building, checking the crisp monitors hanging on the walls for the logo of Gateway Portals. He could hear a fountain trickling off to his side and the bright fluorescent lights shining down on pale-blue linoleum tiles almost made him forget the nearly all-red scheme of the world outside. It felt a little surreal to step into a place like this, all bright, clean, and decked out in soothing shades of blue or grey. He wondered if Nami’s yoga studio looked this weirdly clean and calming. He certainly didn’t see buildings like this very often himself.

…Maybe he _did_ need to get out more and start visiting some of the less depraved parts of Hell.

Izaya shook his head and focused on the monitors again, spotting the logo he was looking for at the far end of Customs.

With a growing grin, Izaya strode towards the portal gate, standing eagerly among the huddle of demons waiting for new arrivals through this gate as well.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time. 12:08. Not bad. Heiwajima-san’s portal was slated to spit him out at 12:10.

In theory, Izaya hadn’t missed him and accidentally let the ex-bartender sign himself up for early damnation.

In theory.

Izaya hummed happily as he stood beside the other demons, eyes locked on the bubbling pit of blood in the ground before him. Any minute now his newest form of personal entertainment was going to arrive.

A whole human Izaya got to have all to himself! For three months! Life honestly couldn’t get better at this point.

Except as Izaya stood there happily, humming and waiting for Heiwajima-san to arrive, he became acutely aware of several pairs of eyes trained on him around the room.

That in itself wasn’t new. Izaya was aware he was a fairly attractive demon among humanoid species. He got stares every now and then, and the occasional “compliment” when some rando on the street asked if he was an incubus and what his rates were. But these weren’t those kinds of stares. They were the other kind.  
The critical, confused, curious kind which had seen something it shouldn’t have seen.

_“Well, someone’s spotted the family resemblance.”_ Izaya thought to himself without much cheer, forcing his eyes to stay on the blood pit even as the stare grew more intense. _“I shouldn’t be surprised. I’m in Superbia, so of course that idiot would have pictures of himself posted all over the place. But just a few more minutes and I’ll be out of here.”_

Unfortunately, the few minutes didn’t seem to pass quickly enough. A demon sidled up to Izaya’s side, coughing briefly to grab Izaya’s attention.

Izaya’s red eyes flicked over to see who was approaching him, and his lip curled in distaste the instant he saw the camera looped around the demon’s neck.

A reporter.

“Not famous. Not important. Not interested.” Izaya said flatly, turning away from the reporter and staring at the blood pit again.

“I think we both know that’s not true.” The reporter responded instantly, eyes glinting with triumph as his hands wrapped around the sides of his camera. “Orihara Izaya. That’s you, isn’t it?”

“No. I’m just a really good cosplayer.” Izaya flashed the demon a brief smile, then trained his attention back on the pit. “Now go away. I’m working.”

“Just a few quick questions.” The reporter said immediately, clearly not having heard the last few statement slipping out of Izaya’s mouth. “Is it true that you still haven’t-”

“I’m _working_.” Izaya repeated harshly, finally turning to shoot the demon a cutting glare. “And I get that you are, too, but you really should do your work somewhere else.”

“Is it true that you still haven’t chos-” The demon tried to say again, cut off immediately by the glint of fluorescent lights off black claws angled at his throat.

“Somewhere. Else.” Izaya smiled sweetly, brushing his claws lightly against the demon’s throat. His tail lifted in the air behind himself, ready to reach out and impale the stupid camera if the man so much as twitched for it. “Is that so hard to understand?”

“Is it so hard for you to answer a few questions?” The demon asked boldly, glaring down at Izaya. Izaya could see the fear in the reporter’s eyes though, and the blue, scaly skin surrounding the slitted orbs was growing pale and sweaty.

“I’m giving you five seconds to leave me alone before I completely ruin your career, your social life, your financial security, your peace of mind, and your two left limbs.” Izaya said calmly, still smiling as sweetly as possible as his tail poised itself to strike, angling at the demon before him. “Even putting aside my bloodline, I’m more than capable of doing all of that within a week. Do you really want to push me?”

The reporter seemed to waver, his fear forcing him to take a step back from the glinting black claws and the sadistic gleam in Izaya’s eyes.

Izaya began mouthing the countdown to the man, wiggling his claws slowly through the air in an unspoken threat.

The reporter seemed like he was about to break, the blue-skinned demon ready to turn tail and run, but before Izaya could reach the end of his countdown, something else grabbed hold of his attention instead.

“RESTRAIN HIM, _NOW_!”

Izaya blinked once in shock, looking back over at the transport portal he’d been distracted from with the appearance of the blue idiot.

There was now a huge commotion by the blood pit, demons crowding around it with wide eyes as a few oni security guards ran towards the boiling portal.

They seemed to be struggling with a figure who’d just stepped out of the pit, one who was roaring and yelling like a beast as his fists flew at the oni around him.

It shockingly seemed like a pretty even fight, actually, with the oni taking the hits with a few grunts, attempting to grab the wild figure’s limbs, and sometimes sending back hits of their own that the figure took with equal gusto.

It seemed like a nearby service agent was yelling at the emerging figure to head to an Immigration line outside, and the figure was roaring back that he was supposed to go through Customs.

The oni were attempting to bodily drag him out of the pit now, and the figure was fighting back furiously, knocking down several of the guards with his sheer, vicious force. The oni were steadily beginning to realize though that this figure was not someone to be taken lightly, and their muscles were bulging in their bodies as they began to exert more force, matching the figure pound for pound.

Izaya was so enthralled by the sight of a mere human taking on a pack of oni (restraining themselves though they were) that he almost didn’t remember who the human was.

Then the figure bashed its skull into an oni’s nose, the resounding crack filling the air as black blood spewed over blonde hair, and Izaya's memory clicked.

“My human.” Izaya said out loud before he could stop himself, staring at the blonde in amazement. “Whoops.”

The blonde somehow seemed to hear his words over the roar of the fighting, the blood-spattered head immediately whipping to the side to stare directly at Izaya.  
Fierce golden eyes met Izaya’s red ones, the rage, confusion, and frustration roiling in them like the boiling pit at the figure’s feet. There was definite recognition that flickered through the orbs too, and for a moment, the blonde and the raven just stared at each other through the throngs of panicked demons and pissed-off security guards, eyes finally settling on each other for the first time.

Then Izaya lifted his hand with a bright grin, waving cheerfully at the bloody, bruised human growling before him.

“Welcome to Hell, Heiwajima-san! I see you’re making friends already!”

Yeah, Izaya’s service rating was _definitely_ going down after this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES!!!! YES, WE FINALLY GOT TO SEE IZAYA!! I was so excited to write Izaya's perspective, haha. We're getting into the action of the fic and diving into some of the actual plot here. I can't wait to see where it goes from here! I hope you're all as excited as I am!
> 
> Oh, and again, if you have fic recommendations, please leave them down below! Thank you!
> 
> Love you all, and I hope to see you with the next chapter! <3


	5. Sin Cities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the almost-late update this time around.
> 
> Jumping back into the swing of things after Thanksgiving Break was ROUGH, but at least all I have left are some group projects and research papers! And - miraculously - I was able to find the time to sit down and post the new chapter after all! I didn't think I'd be able to 'cuz I've been trying to deploy a machine learning model all day, and it just wasn't working out, haha. But I made it, we're here, and without further ado, here's the next chapter!
> 
> See you guys at the end! <3

“I promise everything is going to be fine.”

“…”

“I worked it all out with Customs and you’re off the no-teleport list.”

“…”

“That first-aid kit was pretty nice, right? All your bruises gone in the blink of an eye!”

“…”

“I also ordered some new clothes that you can change into in that restroom over there.”

“…”

“They’re in your size, _and_ they’ll protect you from some of the heat down here.”

“…”

“The oni guards will be sending you apology baskets for the inconvenience, too.”

“…”

“…Did I mention that there’s a sweets café nearby and I’m paying for all your meals today?”

“I forgive you.”

Izaya blew out a low sigh of relief as the grumbling words finally escaped the brooding human beside him.

That whole incident with security had definitely taken a lot of effort on Izaya’s part.

It had been no easy task to run up to the guards and convince them that Shizuo wasn’t actually a disembodied soul but a still-living sinner, let alone one that had signed up for a tour of Hell. He'd had to call his main agency and get Shiki on the line to assure the oni that there was indeed a registered living sinner on file coming to Hell.

After that, he’d had to give a stern talking-to to the oni that had gotten a bit too rough with his human, guilt-tripping them enough to coerce those apology basket promises out of them for attacking a “weaker being”. Then he’d had to hop on a few quick calls and order replacement clothes and human-friendly healing kits, both of which weren’t exactly easy to come by in a pinch in Hell, and for which speed-delivery to a border port costed a fortune.

All of this effort on his part, and the blonde human hadn’t stopped glaring at Izaya like the demon was the sole reason for all of his troubles, arms crossed and golden eyes locked on him with a royally-pissed expression for the past several minutes.

Come on! It was just one little slip-up! Izaya had _barely_ missed his arrival in the portal. If it hadn’t been for that stupid reporter getting up in his business and distracting him, he would’ve been ready for Shizuo and ready to smooth problems over before they even started.

Ah, well. You took what came to you.

Izaya glanced at the human sitting beside him on the bench outside of the Custom’s building, wounds now perfectly healed while the two of them waited together for the replacement clothes.

He’d been trying really hard to hide it up to this point, and the security fiasco had been a great distraction, but now that it was just the two of them sitting together, Izaya’s excitement was getting the better of him.

There was a real live _human_ right next to him! A human! All for him, right here in Hell!

Izaya’s eyes eagerly scanned Shizuo up and down, his tail flicking back and forth in the heated air as he took in every detail.

He looked like any humanoid demon species, to be honest, just minus the few extra demonic quirks that distinguished the various species from each other.

For example, he didn’t have the blue-colored skin or reptilian eyes of the reporter from earlier, or the taloned feet and feathered wings of a humanoid harpy. He didn’t have horns or a tail, like Izaya, or a bat wings like an incubus. It was as though someone had taken the base model for a generic humanoid demon, stripped away anything beyond what was absolutely necessary, and called it a human.

But it was so _fascinating_ to look at!

Izaya peered closely at the roots of Shizuo’s hair, noting how they seemed to be a different color than the rest of it. He’d seen the memory files of Shizuo as a young boy before, and he’d had brown hair then. Did humans change their hair colors as they grew older? He knew they had special decorative dyes for that sort of thing, but was it something all humans did?

Izaya tilted his head slightly as his gaze moved to the side of Shizuo’s face, wide red eyes taking in the silent male’s features with unabashed interest. Shizuo had such a strong face for a human. He almost looked demonic, with the firmly cut jawline and the intense, golden eyes glaring out from under brooding eyebrows.

He actually reminded Izaya of one of his brothers, now that Izaya thought about it.

The rest of his body was equally fascinating to the overeager demon, too, every line of it rigid with tension and aggression, each muscle lean yet unparalleled in the strength packed inside it. With such a lithe form, Izaya knew Shizuo must often be overlooked by the people around him.

But he’d seen for himself the damage behind those unassuming hands, both in memory files and just now in the teleport section. Not many humans could take on oni security guards in hand-to-hand combat and live to tell the tale. Shizuo had incredible fighting instincts burned into the muscles of his body, and the strength to back him up in inhuman situations.

Aaah! Izaya was so excited right now!!

Izaya’s tail whirred happily in the air beside him, practically creating a buzz as the demon’s horns began twisting up towards the red sky. He leaned in a little closer to Shizuo, trying to see if there were any other details he was missing about his new human as a small giggle escaped his lips.

The giggle finally caught Shizuo’s attention, it seemed, and the golden eyes shot from the ground they’d turned to glare at for the past few minutes to Izaya.

Surprise, confusion, and a little bit of disturbance filled the golden orbs as Shizuo scooted away from Izaya, scowling at him with that brooding face.

“What the hell are you doing?” The human demanded, voice low and rumbling. “Why are you so close to me? Have you been watching me this whole time?”

“Of course I have!” Izaya responded brightly, grinning at Shizuo with sparkling eyes. His tail whirred again, betraying the bubbling excitement in his stomach perhaps even more than his eyes did.

He saw Shizuo’s gaze flick briefly to the tail, doubt crossing the human’s face as he frowned at the demon.

“You seemed way more professional on the phone.” Shizuo grumbled, looking Izaya up and down with a scrutinizing glare. “You’re almost…like a child now.”

“Well, you’re here with me in person now. I can’t help my excitement.” Izaya said briskly, brushing off the comment with the professionalism he _always_ carried with him, thank you very much. “It’s not often that I get to meet humans in person.”

“Don’t you work in human resources?” Shizuo asked in confusion, tilting his head to the side as he stared at Izaya. “And call humans all the time and all that?”

“Calling isn’t the same as talking in person.” Izaya sighed, grabbing his tail out of the air and stroking it sadly. “I get to see you, sure, but it’s all tinted with that stupid red portal glow and I never actually get to meet my clients in person. It’s rare that clients ask for favors which require HR reps like myself to directly intervene.”

Izaya released his tail and turned to Shizuo with an excited grin, the spade-like tip beginning to whir through the air again, drawing Shizuo’s almost-concerned eyes once more.

“Actually, every now and then I get to go to the human realm!” Izaya chirped happily, practically bouncing in place on the bench as he reminisced. “I _love_ those trips! Humans everywhere and doing all kinds of things and acting all kinds of ways! You’re all so different and unique I just want to explode!”

Shizuo stared at Izaya like he was insane, shaking his head and directing his gaze back at the ground with a sigh. “We’re not all that interesting.” He muttered, eyes downcast. “We’re just stupid screw-ups who make mistakes. A lot.”

“I disagree.” Izaya shrugged, leaning back casually into the bench and humming as he stared at the lines of humans in the Immigration lines across from them. “But to each their own. We can argue about the finer points of humanity later.”

“After the sweets café or before?” Shizuo asked next, glancing back at Izaya.

_“Oh, he’s serious about that.”_ Izaya thought, wincing to himself at the hit his wallet was probably going to take for the sake of disgusting sweets. “After.” He chirped aloud, swinging his legs a bit. “Probably after I get you settled into an apartment, too.”

“An apartment?” Shizuo repeated in surprise, sitting up as he stared at Izaya. “I’m getting an apartment?”

Izaya gave the human a funny look, wondering if all of them were like this. “Did you think I was just going to leave you homeless on the streets after you got here?” He asked, laughing at the idea. “Of course you’re getting an apartment. Today, I’m going to show you around the major districts of Hell and the apartment sites you can stay in at each of them, and you’ll pick one.”

“Do I have to pay for it?” Shizuo asked instantly. “I can barely keep up the cost of my own apartment and now I’m jobless.”

“The cost is subsidized by an agency that covers housing for freebies like you.” Izaya said smoothly, waving the worry away with a casual hand. “Every apartment I’m showing you today is completely free.”

Shizuo’s shoulders seemed to collapse in relief after that statement, the blonde leaning heavily forward on his hands and staring at the ground again with a low sigh. “Thank goodness.” He muttered, closing his eyes. “I was not ready for financial problems.”

“Well, I think you need to thank _me_ , not this ‘goodness’ of yours, but yes.” Izaya chirped happily, peering at the back of Shizuo’s head. “No financial worries await you here in Hell. Me and the agencies you’ve signed with are covering everything.”

Shizuo hummed in response to that, nodding his head in gratitude, keeping his eyes closed as he sat there on the bench.

He genuinely looked relieved to not have to worry about his financial state. Was money truly such a driving influence in the blonde’s life? Did it weigh on him this much?

_“If he’s this happy just to have financial problems taken away,”_ Izaya thought to himself, leaning back against the wall and staring up at the red sky with a smile. _“He might be even easier to win over than I’d thought.”_

Izaya could simply dangle wealth in front of this human, throwing it in as an extra incentive for whenever they sealed their final deal, and Shizuo’s soul would be bound for at least an extra thousand years of service, if Izaya played his cards right.

He could already smell the bonus paycheck coming in when Shizuo signed on for more than he’d bargained for. It would be a good day in office when all of this was over, no matter how long it took.

Speaking of things taking a long time to be over, though...

The image of the reporter suddenly flashed before Izaya’s eyes, the blue-skinned menace holding his stupid camera, asking those same questions that Izaya was so tired of hearing.

Of course he hadn’t chosen yet. Why would he choose? He didn’t _need_ to, as much as everyone around him seemed to think he did.

Between his parents, his brothers, and the media, Izaya honestly felt like sometimes all of Hell was just watching his every step, waiting for him to fall in line. Only Mairu and Kururi had ever given him any sort of break from the endless questioning and expectations, and they didn’t even care about the politics behind it – just the fact that Izaya could give them more attention if he hadn’t chosen.

Still…lately, Izaya felt like the tension was increasing. More reporters had been popping up out of the woodworks, and they’d been unusually determined to get responses from him on the issue. Maybe he should do something about it. At least get them to back off for a little bit.

Izaya’s eyes flicked to Shizuo, the blonde still reveling in his relief, head tipped down to face the ground, eyes closed.

He _had_ brought Shizuo here, after all. Part of him had done it because it would be so easy to add in a few extra hundred years of punishment if he could work on Shizuo in person. But another part had recognized that this could be his chance to finally take a bit of the heat off himself.

If it was Shizuo…surely, they’d accept him as a potential choice. He had all the right merits for it. It would seem completely natural to select him. Izaya could milk Shizuo’s presence as the basis for a choice, and then when the three months of his contract were up, Izaya could just claim that things hadn’t worked out.

His family would believe he was actually looking for once, and they’d give the constant reminders a rest. The media would be thrilled to have a potential story to blow out of proportion, both when the choice was up in the air and after the choice had “failed”.

It would work.

…The only issue was whether or not Shizuo himself might ruin the image.

“Well!” Izaya chirped, clapping his hands together and hopping up from the bench.

Shizuo jolted in place and looked up at Izaya with wide eyes, confusion evident in the gold orbs.

“Your clothes aren’t here yet, and it’s honestly getting a little late.” Izaya began, gesturing towards the sky above them. The thick, glowing red miasma that always covered the ceiling of Hell was beginning to darken, throwing shadows over the world below it as more and more of the flying demons began to roost for the night in its cloudy depths.

As their dark silhouettes tucked away in the empty pockets of miasma, they blocked out the glow from its eternal, eerie red light, bringing about the kind of “nighttime” that Hell judged itself on.

Currently, Izaya was guessing that the fourth shift of flying demons had just about finished returning home, leaving only two more before nighttime officially fell and the miasma was too dark to illuminate the hellscape below.

In other words, as he glanced at his phone to check the time, he noted that it was about 5 o’clock. If they wanted to get any apartment shopping done today, they had to leave now.

“I’ll have them send the replacement clothes to your new address and I can buy you something along the way if you truly want that.” Izaya said smoothly, slipping his phone into his pocket and beaming brightly at Shizuo. “For now, though, how about we head to that café and then get started with our apartment search?”

“Uh, sure. I guess.” Shizuo nodded slowly, standing up from the bench and giving himself a quick once-over to make sure his clothes weren’t too bad. His duffel bag looked a little worse for wear, the handle now torn and ripped from the earlier struggle with the oni guards. His shirt had a massive hole in the side, one that Izaya could clearly see through to the lean stomach underneath, and his pants were ripped in various places to reveal powerful leg muscles. All in all, he didn’t look so bad to Izaya.

Actually…

Izaya’s eyes lingered a bit on the hole in Shizuo’s shirt, taking notice of the definition of Shizuo’s stomach and the abdominal muscles he could barely see as the blonde shifted in place.

Yeah. Izaya’s human _definitely_ didn’t look so bad.

_“Damn, I’ve got good taste.”_

Shizuo finally finished checking himself out and looked back at Izaya, giving him a single nod of affirmation.

The demon quickly cleared his throat and snapped his head to face the other direction, hoping Shizuo wasn’t familiar enough with cues about demon biology to recognize what the new, lazy bobbing of Izaya’s tail tip meant.

“On to the first district!” The service rep called brightly, marching off towards the entrance where the border security guards were waiting. “I’ll call a flying turkey taxi, er, _harpy_ , for us and we can get the tours done quickly.”

“Café first! Or I’ll be pissed with you all day.” Shizuo reminded him with a light growl, the deep rumble sending a quick shiver down Izaya’s spine that had his tail bobbing again.

“Of course, of course. Café first!” Izaya sang, grabbing the traitorous spade out of the air and squeezing it tightly in his hand. “There’s one just before the exit and we can get something to go real quick. A snack while we tour around. Sound fair?”

Shizuo merely grunted in response – ever the man of words, Izaya saw – and followed Izaya on a quick detour to the small coffee shop in the center of the port.

The “quick detour” soon turned into the first part of the day that started to go downhill for Izaya.

The demon and his human emerged a little over a half hour later, with Izaya feeling like he’d probably gained second-hand diabetes from all the sugary crap that man had just inhaled, and doing his best not to gag as they walked out with a bag of donut holes to-go.

“That place was great!” Shizuo hummed happily, the first time he’d seemed so cheerful since arriving in Hell, licking some powdered sugar off his lips. “We should check out more cafés.”

“How about no?” Izaya muttered in response, wincing as his eyes caught a glimpse of the donut-hole bag in Shizuo’s hand. He turned away quickly from the sweets-loving human, taking a quick sip of the black coffee nestled firmly in his own hand to banish the urge to vomit.

He hoped the whole day wouldn’t be like this.

“I swear by the Pulpit, if I have to buy one more sweet in the next month, I’m suing every café in Hell.” Izaya growled darkly, glaring at the black liquid sloshing in his hand. “And no amount of abs is going to make me forget this monstrosity to my bank account.”

“Hey, you offered to pay.” Shizuo huffed, not even the least bit apologetic as he opened the bag and popped a donut-hole in his mouth. “Not my fault you can’t keep up with my appetite.”

“Your appetite isn’t the problem!” Izaya snapped, glaring at the tall blonde and refusing to look at the disgusting bag. “It’s your taste buds! I don’t care what humans say about sins and sinners, but having _that_ much of a sweet tooth should be considered heresy.”

“Whatever.” Shizuo waved a carefree hand in the air before popping another donut-hole into that cavernous mouth. “So we taking a taxi to the first district now, or what?”

“Yes. Let’s go.” Izaya sighed, only slightly beginning to regret his selection of Shizuo as he led the blonde over to the border exit. “Hopefully, I can turn my day around by focusing on the apartments and your pretty face instead of what you just shoved in it.”

“Wait, pretty?” Shizuo blinked and looked at Izaya in shock, but the demon was already walking through the border guards, phasing through the red barrier and back into the regular demon world.

“Hello again!” He sang, holidng up his pass to the two oni stationed ever-faithfully there. “I picked up my friend and we’re heading out. He’s registered with security.”

“His name?” One of the guards grunted, hefting up a registration device.

“Heiwajima Shizuo.” Izaya replied, looking over at the other guard as the first typed in the name.

He was pretty sure it was the same oni from earlier on, the one who hadn’t stopped glaring at him the entire time his pass was being checked out. Looks like the day hadn’t improved the oni’s temperament at all – those lurid eyes were once again locked on Izaya with all the murderous bane in the world, not an ounce of trust filtering into them as the massive demon snarled lowly.

“Lovely afternoon, isn’t it?” Izaya smiled in response, sending another wink that guard’s way. “Though not as lovely as _you_ , handsome.”

He was only met with an even deeper snarl, the oni’s thick white hair standing on end to puff the intimidating figure up even further.

Tough crowd.

Speaking of tough…

Izaya glanced back at the border portal as the security guard continued to check out Shizuo’s clearance, eyeing the human’s silhouette through the red barrier. It looked like he hadn’t walked through yet, but that could just be because the oni hadn’t cleared him to leave.

He bore a human soul, after all. These barriers wouldn’t let such souls escape unless the oni were absolutely certain the humans had been given clearance to do so.  
Eventually, the oni grunted and lowered his device, giving Izaya a single nod. “He’s clear. Call him through.” The deep voice ordered.

“Yes sir!” Izaya sang, then turned around to face the portal. “Heiwajima-san, if you’ve been trying to cross before now and couldn’t, the problem is gone! You’re clear to come through!”

The silhouette seemed to shift in place, a bit uncertainly at first, and then Shizuo’s blonde hair broke through, the human phasing through the red barrier with a cautious look on his face.

He paused when he saw the oni on the other side, body tensing up as if remembering the earlier fight outside the transport portal.

“Now, now. Don’t be like that!” Izaya sang immediately, grabbing Shizuo’s left arm with one hand and using his tail to wrap around the other one. He pulled Shizuo away from the security portal, smiling brightly at the guards all the while.

“We don’t want to get in trouble with guards on this side of the portal because the laws dealing with humans are a lot harder to interpret.” He told Shizuo in a low voice, still smiling brightly at the suspicious guards as he led Shizuo away. “That also counts for getting into trouble with any kind of demon in Hell. Try not to do it, okay? Or at least don’t let people realize you’re human if you’re going to do it.”

“G-Got it.” Shizuo managed to get out, stumbling after Izaya with his eyes locked on the spade-like tail wrapped around his arm. He seemed amazed by the tail itself for some reason, his fingers even twitching like he wanted to touch it to see if it was real.

In some other scenario, at a better time, Izaya might’ve teased the human a bit and invited him to touch his tail all he wanted, if only to see the embarrassed, defensive look that would surely pass over the ex-bartender’s face at being called out.

But the sky was growing even darker now, more and more demons filling that red miasma, and there were several districts they needed to get through.  
Izaya pulled Shizuo to the front of the check-in building he’d first arrived at when coming to pick the human up, finally untwining his tail from the blonde’s arm and taking his phone out of his pocket to call a harpy service.

“We’re only looking at four districts, thankfully, because we only got full sponsorships for your housing in four out of the seven.” Izaya said smoothly, scrolling through his contacts to find the service he’d used that morning. “We’ll be visiting Invidia, Gula, Avaritia, and Acedia. I’m assuming you didn’t read enough of the brochure to know the meanings behind all those names or learn the major characteristics of each district?”

“Should I have?” Shizuo asked bluntly, not even denying it as he shrugged and glanced around the parts of the demon world he could see now. It was mostly more red dirt and tall, blood-red skyscrapers, the edges of the demon city of Superbia where most soul traffic went through. It wouldn’t look all that different from the world of Tokyo that Shizuo had grown up in, perhaps apart from the reddish tint that everything seemed to bear in Hell.

Some of the other districts would probably be a bit more interesting to the city-living human, namely Acedia. Izaya hoped he would pick one of them fairly quickly.

“Not even a quick Internet search of the names?” Izaya asked next, dialing the number and putting the phone to his ear. “Hi, I’d like a harpy for two humanoids, please. Speed is preferable, but not necessary. Oh, and a high safety rating is a must.”

He didn’t want their harpy pulling any fun stunts in traffic and getting Shizuo smashed to a pulp on a sidewalk below. That would be a pretty rough situation to navigate.

Shizuo politely waited until Izaya had finished ordering the taxi and slipping his phone back into his pocket before adding, “Nope. Not a single search.”

Izaya sighed again, peering up at the skies for any winged creatures as the miasma continued to darken. “Alright. I’ll give you a basic rundown, then. You know about the seven deadly sins?”

“Think I saw a TV show with them once.” Shizuo mumbled uncertainly. “I only remember one or two, though.”

“That’s okay. They’re hardly important.” Izaya brushed it off with a light smirk, imagining his brothers’ faces at the comment. “But just so you know, each district is based off one of the sins, excluding the capital. Pandemonium.”

He held up four fingers for the four districts they were planning on visiting. “We’re going to the districts for Envy, Gluttony, Greed, and Sloth. You’ll notice how each reflects their sin as we arrive. Demons tend to gravitate towards living in the district whose sin they most align with, so the whole environment and all its inhabitants tend to be really reminiscent of the sins. Keep that in mind as you choose.”

Shizuo frowned beside Izaya as the two of them stood there, the human seeming to contemplate that statement as they waited for their taxi.

“So…if I lived in the city for Greed, everyone would be super greedy?” He asked slowly, peering at Izaya out of the corner of his eye.

“Pretty much.” Izaya hummed, lacing his fingers behind his head as he watched the air. “But Avaritia is also a really nice city because everything is expensive and luxurious. Half the homes are genuine mansions, there are multiple palaces spread around, and the whole place reeks of money. Even the smaller homes in Avaritia are actually formed of gold and jewels. It’s from all of their Prince’s hoarding, you know?”

“I don’t think I’d be comfortable in an environment like that.” Shizuo said immediately, his frown darkening as he stood beside Izaya. “I feel out of place whenever I visit my brother at his home, and it’s one of those super large mansions. I wouldn’t want to live in one or near any.”

Izaya blinked at that comment, turning to face Shizuo in surprise. “Really? An all-expenses paid mansion, and that makes you…uncomfortable?” He asked slowly, looking the human up and down.

Shizuo nodded firmly, crossing his arms for emphasis. “Don’t like it. I wouldn’t want to live there.” He said gruffly, gold eyes serious.

Izaya stared at Shizuo for a few more seconds, trying to comprehend that. Most humans he’d contracted with were all about money, and just a few minutes earlier, Izaya had been thinking that Shizuo was secretly like that, too. He’d seemed so relieved not to have financial problems, after all. Wasn’t that taking joy in being wealthy?

_“Or maybe he was just happy to have an absence of debt. To not have to spend any money or owe any.”_ Izaya thought to himself, humming as he slowly looked away from Shizuo. _“So money isn’t really a big factor for him, after all. Interesting. Well, it looks like I’ll have to reach a bit more for that bonus.”_

“Alright. We can cross Avaritia off our list of districts to visit, then.” Izaya said pleasantly aloud, making a mental note in his head. “Out of the remaining three, which do you want to visit first?”

“What were they again?” Shizuo asked, eyes still serious and dark.

“Envy, Gluttony, and Sloth.” Izaya responded instantly, eyes back on the sky. “Any of those sound appealing?”

“Envy sounds kind of manageable.” Shizuo began slowly, thinking hard. “Would people there just be kind of grumpy if you got something cool or new? I don’t ever do anything impressive, so I might get along fine there.”

Izaya laughed at the thought of such a mild vision of Envy, his eyes sparkling with mirth as he glanced at Shizuo once again. “Are you kidding me? Demons living in Invidia usually come in two kinds: the straightforward and the crooked. There are the ones who hate you for every good thing that happens to you and tell you as much to your face, usually attempting to make you miserable while they do so. Then there are the two-faced ones who act nice to your face, but completely despise and defame you behind your back.”

He laughed again at Shizuo’s “kind of grumpy” suggestion, turning away from the blonde again. “If _anything_ positive happens to you while you live in Invidia, trust me, the demons around you will try to steal or ruin that positive thing in some way.”

Izaya shrugged, smiling brightly as he continued to watch the red miasma for their taxi. “But since they’re always copying others, trying to make sure that whatever good happens to someone else also happens to them, they’re really up-to-date with their tech and city systems. Nothing breaks down in Invidia, and you have all the comforts you could wish for. If something cool has come out in the human or demon world, you can bet Invidia has a version of it.”

“No thanks.” Shizuo grunted, shaking his head furiously. “I hate two-faced people and I wouldn’t be able to keep up with all those mind games. I don’t care how advanced the city is. I’d be picking fights with every person I met, and I’d always be on edge. No Invidia, either.”

…Izaya was beginning to see a potential problem here.

“Okay…” The demon said slowly, marking that one off in his mind, too. “No Invidia. Well, that leaves us with Gula and Acedia. Gluttony and Sloth.”

“What are they like?” Shizuo asked next, unaware of the dread creeping over Izaya’s mind.

“Gluttony is all about over-indulgence and excess.” Izaya began, rocking back and forth on his heels. “You might like it there! They have tons of restaurants and cafés all over the place, at really low prices! Everyone loves food and has appetites like yours. Food fights are pretty common, but as long as you don’t cross the line and steal anyone’s lunch, you’re golden! I bet you’ll even make friends with the sweet-tooths in the city.”

“What are the bad points?” Shizuo crossed his arms, not falling for the advertisement spiel.

Shit. Did he have to be honest, here?

“Everyone overindulgences in their appetites and in material items, so there’s not a lot of…shall we say, ‘giving back’, in the general community.” Izaya began, hoping Shizuo would just take the bait.

But when Shizuo remained silent, clearly waiting for him to finish, Izaya sighed, and gave in.

“Gula’s totally run-down and all the housing is a complete dumpster fire.” He admitted. “There’s rotten food everywhere because everyone takes more than they can eat, so it’s just left lying around to go to waste. That goes for all the material goods, too, which just get thrown around left and right and pile up in makeshift dumpsters all over the city. Only the restaurants and food establishments are kept in good condition. Everything else is full of garbage, junk, and the whole place smells like a weird mixture of really good food and expired toxic waste.”

“No way.” Shizuo said flatly, grunting angrily at the thought. “Wasting food is terrible, especially if there’s people out there who could use it more than you. Plus, I have a sensitive nose.”

_“Why the Hell did this guy even make a contract with a demon?”_ Izaya thought miserably, glancing at the handsome human with a slight grimace. _“He’s such a goody-two-shoes. Totally screwed himself over from a direct pass to heaven.”_

“All we have to visit is Acedia, then!” Izaya said as brightly as possible, praying the taxi would show up soon. “Sloth! I bet you’ll really like that one. It’s one of the only districts that isn’t developed like a city, you know? Nice, slow life. Small farming villages scattered around. It’s actually really green and lush, which is impressive for Hell. Everything is quiet, peaceful, and no one picks any fights there. Rest and relaxation central! Sounds perfect!”

“Bad points.” Shizuo gave Izaya a harsh glare, the golden eyes boring into the side of Izaya’s face as he kept his gaze rooted firmly upwards. “What’s the downside?”  
Did he have to answer? Did he really, really have to answer?

Izaya slowly turned to meet Shizuo’s gaze, keeping his red eyes unreadable as he matched the unyielding stare of the human beside him.

The human practically seemed to be burning Izaya with the intensity of his gaze, the golden eyes flashing as they demanded an answer.

He wasn’t going to let it go. Not after hearing about the other cities.

_“Damn it! Why’d I have to go and be honest about them?”_ Izaya wailed in his own mind, shooting a forced smile the blonde’s way.

“It’s nothing serious! Really!” He assured the blonde, praying the taxi would arrive and cut the conversation short. “Just a few minorly inconveniencing rules, is all.”

“What. Rules?” Shizuo asked, punctuating each word firmly, keeping Izaya trapped in his stare.

No getting out. Izaya would just have to admit it.

Izaya looked away from Shizuo, wishing he’d been a bit more tactful earlier when he’d begun this discussion. “Well, Sloth is all about laziness and lack of effort.” He mumbled, more than a little unwilling to continue. “So…there’s a minor rule that you can’t ever leave your house, under any circumstances, unless you’re on the brink of death. You need to order in if you want to eat. You can’t speak to anyone or you’ll be arrested. If you’re caught working on anything, you’ll be arrested. If you read, think, play games, or do anything that exerts yourself or your mind, even while in your own house, you’ll be arrested. Basically,”

Izaya slowly looked back at Shizuo with guilt written all over his face. “You have to sleep all the time.” He stated. “If you do anything else besides eat and sleep, you’re arrested.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Shizuo exploded, waving his arms in the air furiously. “How do they run their farms, then?! How does anyone live a life? That’s not living! That’s sleeping all your opportunities away!”

“Some people might find that to be a great situation!” Izaya tried to argue, but the single glare from Shizuo silenced him.

“Alright! Alright!” Izaya groaned and threw his hands up in the air, dread weighing heavy on his mind at this unexpected predicament. “So you don’t want to live in Acedia, either. Despite the very nice scenery and relaxing premise.”

“I’d go crazy if all I did was sit inside and sleep for three months!” Shizuo argued, fists clenching as he turned towards Izaya with a deep scowl. “And how am I supposed to live as an oni and learn to control my strength if I can’t even go outside and join an oni program? Huh?!”

“I get it, I get it.” Izaya pouted, turning away from the irate blonde. This was definitely becoming much harder than he thought. If Shizuo was rejecting the locations before they could even visit, how was Izaya supposed to find the blonde a free place to stay?

“Look, I know none of them are ideal,” Izaya began, glancing over his shoulder at Shizuo. “I mean, this is Hell! It’s not supposed to be a perfect paradise. But you have to settle on a location to live in, preferably a free one that HR is covering for you.”

“Why aren’t there any other locations that HR covers?” Shizuo asked stubbornly, the stupid human not giving an inch.

“Because none of the other districts are big on sponsoring free-loaders on trial deals!” Izaya snapped, glaring at his difficult client. “Superbia is the district of Pride. They’d never take a free-loader, even if it would save them from being hit by God’s own lightning. Ira is the district of Wrath. They could care less who lives in their cities, but the casualty rate is so high there, even among demons, that they’ve literally been banned off housing lists by HR. Even sinners’ souls taking up residency in a Hell district instead of a punishment yard aren’t allowed there. And the last district…”

Izaya shuddered just to think of it. “It’s Luxuria. The district of Lust. Sure, they’d probably take you on as a housing client, but you’d have to work at some cheap brothel the entire time. And I’m sorry, but HR also isn’t big on getting clients to unknowingly sell out their bodies for good real estate.”

Izaya groaned, planting his face in his hands. “This is so stupid. Why can’t you just pick a district that doesn’t sound so bad and agree to check out the apartments? They’re free, okay! Isn’t that a good thing? I promised I scouted out all of them beforehand and I found the best ones I could.”

Shizuo fell silent for a bit, the miasma thundering quietly overhead in the absence of their conversation.

After a few seconds of his silence, Izaya peeked through his fingers at the blonde, confused about his lack of reaction.

When he saw the guilt coating the ex-bartender’s face, his confusion only grew. Why did Shizuo look so guilty right now? Did he feel bad for rejecting the locations? For making things more difficult for Izaya?

It was true that he was definitely being somewhat difficult. Most humans would be ecstatic with at least a few of the options Hell presented them with – namely Avaritia or Acedia. His coworkers in the Relocation branch said that it was never hard to convince sinners’ souls to move to one of those districts; Shizuo was the first person he’d heard of who’d rejected them right off the bat.

Huh. Well, at least he was aware of how frustrating he was being.

Even so, Izaya was fairly certain that the blonde wasn’t guilty enough to change his mind.

“…What’s the best district to live in, in your opinion?” The blonde suddenly asked, looking at Izaya with careful eyes.

Izaya blinked in response, then hummed, thinking about the question. “Personally…” He said slowly, mind racing as he considered the various options. “I think Superbia and Pandemonium are the best places to live. Everyone is unbearably stuck-up in Superbia, sure, and its Prince’s face is plastered all over the city, but it’s in the best condition possible. Top tech, extravagant art, lots of stores and things to do, vibrant city life and culture. They’re prideful for a reason.”

He shrugged, slipping his hands into his pockets as his tail swished slowly through the air. “And Pandemonium is the capital of Hell, so it’s obviously in nice condition. Plus, it’s not overrun by any one particular sin, so it’s easier to adapt to. Only issue is that the demonic miasma is ridiculously thick there since that’s where Lucifer lives.”

Izaya glanced at Shizuo and made sure the blonde was looking at him when he said, “You couldn’t possibly live there. The demonic miasma would literally boil your soul. Only Satanic deities and high-ranking demons can manage it.”

Shizuo winced at that statement, rubbing at his arm like he was imagining it boiling away. “…Got it.” He said slowly, staring up at the red sky with Izaya. “So I have to pick somewhere free to live, from a place that’s connected to your HR branch?”

“Pretty much.” Izaya nodded, watching the human closely. “Unless you want to get a job miraculously fast and pay rent.”

“A free place…” Shizuo muttered to himself, golden eyes distant. “One connected to the HR branch…”

Izaya watched the blonde think for a few minutes, wondering what could be going through his head. After denying nearly every district in Hell, the blonde wouldn’t be left with a lot of choices unless he figured out how he was willing to compromise.

Izaya felt a buzz in his pocket and pulled out his phone, noting that a message from the travel service said that the harpy was about to arrive. Five minutes left.

“How about we at least try one of them!” Izaya said brightly, putting his phone away and flashing his most charismatic smile at the blonde. “Just pick the best-sounding district, and we’ll explore every option in it together! Our ride will be here soon, so tell me which one you want to look at.”

Shizuo paused and stared at Izaya, his face completely unreadable as he worked out the situation in his mind.

Eventually, he gave a firm nod. “I’ve decided.” He said seriously, folding his powerful arms across his body. “Where I want to live.”

“Fantastic! Which district?” Izaya practically sang, thanking whatever forces controlled Shizuo’s brain that they were finally getting somewhere. “I’ll be sure to tell the harpy to take us right there, and I’ll give you the best tour of your life no matter which district we end up in! Hell, may not be perfect, but it can still be pretty wonderful!” 

Izaya beamed brightly at Shizuo, waiting for the handsome human’s response.

But when Shizuo actually opened his mouth to speak, the words that came out of it had not been ones that Izaya was prepared for.

“I want to live with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And _Shizuo_ is the one who makes the first move to live together! What a turn of events! I wonder how Izaya will react?
> 
> Whew, in any case, I know there was lot's of talking and discussion in this one, and not a lot of action. Sorry about that! But we're getting some worldbuilding out of the way and soon we'll jump into shenanigans of actually living and "functioning" in Hell society!
> 
> I hope you guys will stick around with me for all that fun stuff later on! Love you all! <3 <3 <3


	6. Deal with a Devil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry I didn't have this up last night. I'd intended to, but I offered to help my roommate transcribe some documents for her boss and it took a lot longer than we'd expected. 
> 
> Anyways!! No more excuses - here's the next chapter of "Heart of Hell"!!
> 
> Hope you like it! <3

…Was there a polite way to tell his human that he’d lost his mind on the way down to Hell?

Izaya blinked and stared at the blonde before him, completely unsure of what he should say in this situation. Now, he didn’t usually handle face-to-face situations with humans all that often, but he was pretty sure this wasn’t a normal dilemma.

“You…I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” Izaya put on his best customer service smile, praying to Lucifer that he wasn’t about to hear those baffling words again.

“I want to live with you.” Shizuo said firmly, crossing his arms and nodding like the matter was already settled. “You’re connected to the Human Resources department or whatever, right? So you have to make sure I have a good living situation down here in Hell.”

“Yes, that is all true.” Izaya began carefully, still stunned that this was even happening. “But _my_ living situation isn’t one that up for grabs to improve _yours_.”

“Why not?” Shizuo growled, golden eyes darkening slightly. “Shouldn’t you be trying to put me in the most comfortable situation possible? Especially considering what happened when I arrived?”

Izaya flinched a bit at that statement, tail twitching in the air behind him. Damn reporter, messing up everything.

“That wasn’t my fault!” Izaya protested with a huff, crossing his own arms to match Shizuo and scowling at the taller blonde. “And I’ve already tried to make up for it! I bought you a med-kit, some new clothes, an unholy amount of desserts, _and_ I coerced some apology baskets for you from oni security guards. I’ve worked practical miracles to make all that happen and you’re _still_ holding it against me?!”

“I’m still in pain.” Shizuo responded lamely, but judging by the way his eyes flicked away from Izaya, there wasn’t very much truth to that statement. “But seriously, I just want to live with you. Is it that big of a deal?”

“Yes!” Izaya snapped, waving his arms in the air as his tail whirred aggressively. “Of course it is! It’s an invasion of my privacy, a waste of my personal resources, and an unhealthy conglomeration of my home and work lives.”

Izaya jabbed a finger at Shizuo, narrowing his red eyes so the human would get the point. “In short, I can’t afford – nor do I want – a human living with me.”

“Think of the great opportunity this would be to study a real-live human, though.” Shizuo responded immediately, flashing a grin at Izaya. “Isn’t that why you were so excited to bring me down here, after all? You’d get to observe a human in its most natural state. 24/7. For three whole months.”

That brought another flinch from Izaya, this one for a different reason than before.

Ooh. That _did_ sound like a nice benefit.

It wasn’t like he could go to the surface all that often and observe the humans up there. The only humans he could ever analyze were the ones in immigration, and that was only one scenario out of thousands that a human could react to.

If Shizuo came with him to his apartment, he’d get to see the daily life of a human, up close and personal. He could observe the human’s working habits, his sleeping patterns, his reactions to changes in environmental stimuli – Izaya could essentially set up his own three-month human experimentation zone, right from the comfort of his own home!

“Hmm…” Izaya let out a low hum, pulling his finger out of the air and tapping his chin thoughtfully. His tail began to calm down a bit, swirling slowly through the warm air as he pondered the idea.

There was a lot he could try if Shizuo was living with him.

He could invite a bunch of co-workers over for multiple nights in a row to keep the blonde awake, and see how that affected his mood.

He could make a bunch of delicious meals several nights in a row, then suddenly cut Shizuo off from them, and observe the reaction.

He could set Shizuo up on a date with some demon girl, wait for the relationship to get good, and then spur a horrible break-up and watch the shit-show.

He could even just pull consistent minor pranks, like putting something sharp or bad-smelling in his shoes, and see how long it took to build to a blow-up.

He could test the limits of human emotional endurance in so many ways. And who knows? Maybe it could help him in his work in the future. If he understood on a deeper level what little things pricked at humans or drove them over the edge, he might be able to talk some volatile ones into better deals. Poke at their insecurities once he understood them, manipulate their uncertainties once he could create them.

Every single human would be his personal plaything and he’d understand the ins and outs of their behaviors like no demon ever could!

…Damn, this was tempting.

“Not that it doesn’t sound fantastic,” Izaya started again, trying to pull himself away from the enticing images in his mind. “But I don’t know if I even have the ability to house you.”

That’s right. Izaya tried to fly as far below the radar as possible, so he just owned a single small apartment in Superbia. To keep attention off himself, he was intentionally subtle in his living location and didn’t do a thing to reveal to the neighbors in his complex who he was or where he came from.

Would his tiny, unassuming apartment be able to fit Shizuo? It only had one bedroom, a small kitchenette, and a single bathroom. Short of making the blonde sleep, eat, and exist purely in the tiny living room crushed the middle of all that, Izaya genuinely didn’t know how Shizuo could live there comfortably.

“It’s really small. Like a one-room apartment level of small.” Izaya spoke aloud, planting a hand on his hip as he looked at Shizuo doubtfully. “Why don’t you just pick Acedia or Avaritia? You’ll have a nice place all to yourself. Crushing in my space won’t be comfortable at all.”

“I used to share a room with my younger brother and I’ve lived in one-room apartments for most of my life.” Shizuo replied immediately, seeming completely unfazed by Izaya’s concerns. “A tiny space doesn’t bother me. And it’s only for three months. I’m not moving in forever.”

True. It was a short period of time. Plus, Shizuo would be getting a job with the oni soon as part of the contract, so it wasn’t like he’d be stuck in the apartment all day.

Wait a minute…

“I work all day, and soon, you will too.” Izaya realized aloud, glaring at Shizuo again. “When exactly am I supposed to be able to observe you and run my experiments, huh? If we both just see each other at night, that only leaves a few hours for me to try anything!”

“How were you planning on observing me before, then?” Shizuo shot back, still not giving in. “Visit me at work and at my own house and call it good?”

“I was going to have one of your co-workers give me daily reports on you at work, and I would’ve set up cameras in your house or apartment so I could stalk you whenever I felt like it.” Izaya responded breezily, ignoring the horror that crossed over Shizuo’s face at that statement. “You know, like instead of checking social media when I get a break at work, checking up on your living status? Anyway, I wouldn’t want to set up a bunch of cameras in my own apartment because I hate the feeling of being watched. So I won’t be able to do that if you live with me!”

“I’m gonna ignore the hidden security camera plan for now.” Shizuo grumbled to himself, pressing his fingers into his forehead as his brow furrowed in concentration. “But you can still get the daily updates from my co-workers, or whatever. Sure, you can’t check up on me while you’re working, but isn’t observing me in-person much better?”

“And what if you finish work before me so I get home super late and miss some prime observation time?” Izaya demanded, stomping his foot petulantly and scowling at the human. “I refuse to be cheated out of observation time!”

“Then I’ll work the same amount of hours as you!” Shizuo yelled back, golden eyes flaring as he leaned down and pressed his forehead aggressively against Izaya’s. “We’ll get off at the same time, get home at the same time, and you can spend all day watching me like a creep with your own two eyes.”

Izaya pressed right back against Shizuo, matching the golden glare unflinchingly, but his brain was racing with excitement.

That made sense. Rather than only receiving weekly reports and spying on Shizuo at home every now and then, Izaya could still get the weekly reports and observe Shizuo personally in every moment of free time the blonde had. It was a better deal overall, wasn’t it? The data he could collect off Shizuo would be way more valuable.

Not to mention if Shizuo was actually _living_ with him, the rumors about Izaya making a choice would have even stronger backing.

Izaya hadn’t anticipated that part of the equation yet, but now that he thought about it, hadn’t his brothers all lived with their choices for a little while before making it official, too? Living with Shizuo could bolster his fake story like nothing else!

Better human observation…

Stronger story for the press…

No exhausting travel between districts…

It was all sounding very good. The only drawback was squeezing Shizuo into his tiny apartment. But the blonde said he was okay with that, and Izaya had lived with Mairu and Kururi in an apartment around the size of his current one before. It should be fine.

Plus, it wasn’t like Shizuo wasn’t an unattractive object to observe. Izaya was getting some free eye-candy out of this, too.

Alright, there was the final benefit. Free eye-candy for three months.

Damn it, he was sold.

“Fine.” Izaya huffed as proudly as he could, pulling sharply away from Shizuo’s forehead and spinning around on his heel. “I’ll change the address for your new clothes to be sent to my place. And we’ll just head straight there once this stupidly late taxi demon finally gets here.”

Shizuo blinked at Izaya in dumbstruck confusion for a few seconds, then a light suddenly brightened over the blonde’s face. “Wait, so you’ll do it? I can live with you?” He asked excitedly, eyes practically sparkling as he waited for Izaya’s response.

Izaya glanced back at Shizuo with a small frown, wondering why the ex-bartender seemed so thrilled to be getting his way.

“Yes. I’ve given it enough thought.” Izaya said aloud, almost concerned about the joy shooting through Shizuo’s eyes. “But you have to do absolutely everything I say while we’re at home and no matter what experiments I try on you, you can’t complain. Deal?”

“Deal.” Shizuo said immediately, the human foolishly having no idea what fresh hell he’d just signed himself up for. “How bad could it be?”

Izaya hid a smirk at that statement, glancing up to the sky as a harpy demon finally wheeled over them and came careening down.

“Sorry for the delay! Traffic was rough!” The feathered demon chirped cheerfully as she landed, stretching out her impressive wingspan as she hopped on taloned feet. She must be one of the freighter-class harpies, judging by the size of her wings.

Izaya was actually pretty impressed. Her wingspan was around 25 or 27 feet, way bigger than the average wingspan for a female harpy. The strength behind those massive wings must be what gave her such a good safety rating.

“No worries. We just decided on a destination.” Izaya smiled brightly, walking up to one of the harpy’s legs and grabbing it with one hand. His tail wrapped around it immediately out of habit as the horned demon looked back at his client.

Shizuo was gawking at the harpy in pure shock, his eyes wide like he couldn’t believe he was seeing a winged person right in front of him.

Dear Lucifer, Izaya hoped the human wouldn’t start thinking harpies were angels.

“Heiwajima-san, get on.” He called sharply, trying to give the human a pointed look. “We’re heading out.”

Shizuo seemed to realize his mistake in acting so obvious and blinked once, quickly running over to the harpy’s other leg. He hesitated a bit when reaching out to grab the leg, like he wasn’t sure if it was okay to touch the harpy or not, but eventually wrapped his hand around the leathery bird-leg.

“Perfect. 6742 Supremacy Boulevard, Eastern District of Superbia.” Izaya said smoothly to the harpy, reaching into his pocket and pulling out some bridges. “No need for speed. We’ve suddenly got a lot more time on our hands, and this is my friend’s first time on a harpy.”

“Understood, sir!” The girl chirped again, taking the bridges with a grin and slipping them into a leather pouch slung over her chest. “Let’s head out!”

Izaya glanced at Shizuo one more time, just to make sure the blonde was holding on. It looked like he didn’t need to worry very much, though. If anything, the white-knuckled grip Shizuo had on the harpy’s leg with both of his hands was probably more than necessary. Judging by the panic in Shizuo’s eyes as the harpy sprung off the ground and took to the red skies, the ex-bartender probably hadn’t flown before, even on one of those human airplanes.

Izaya snickered at the frightened look plastered over the blonde’s face, whipping out his phone as they shot higher into the air to snap a quick photo. Oh, that was being used for something later. Izaya didn’t know what yet, but he couldn’t wait to show it off.

Maybe this in-person observation thing really _had_ been a good idea, after all.

Since they were already in the Superbia district, it didn’t take long for the amusing ride to end, unfortunately. Even with the harpy taking slower turns around the glittering buildings of the city, and waiting calmly at all the traffic stops, they still settled at the directed street before the red sky had even darkened to its dusk-phase.

Izaya checked his phone briefly, noting that the time was barely closing in on 4 o’clock.

“Looks like we’ve got more free time than I planned since we didn’t look at any other apartments.” Izaya remarked aloud, stepping away from the harpy’s leg and letting his tail dive into his back pocket for a tip. “How convenient for us! We’ll have all the time to get you settled in before the day is out. How does that sound, Heiwajima-san?”

Hiding his smirk behind his phone, Izaya shot the blonde human a mirthful glance.

The ex-bartender was stumbling away from the harpy’s leg now, his face somewhat green, and his knees shaking as he looked blankly around. His arms were outstretched before him as if he was trying to regain his balance, or make sure he could catch himself when he lost it. He looked so sick and pitiful.

Izaya allowed himself a small giggle and snuck another quick photo of his delightful new toy before turning to the harpy with a bright smile.

“Thank you for your service! I’ll be sure to leave a great rating on the smooth ride! We’ll have to use your services again sometime soon!” He sang, gleefully aware of the horrified look Shizuo shot him from the side.

“Anytime! It was great travelling with you, sir.” The harpy responded happily, none the wiser to Shizuo’s fear, and took off with a jaunty wave.

Izaya waved after her for a bit, still grinning as her winged form disappeared into the red miasma above them.

“Well, how charming was that? I bet you’ll be clamoring for a frequent flier card soon, hm?” Izaya turned to Shizuo with a wide smile, red eyes sparkling as he watched the color drain even further from the human’s face.

“No! Absolutely not!” Shizuo yelled, shuddering at the thought. “I’m never getting on one of those things again!”

“But Heiwajima-san,” Izaya held up a hand to his mouth in mock surprise. “You handled yourself _sooo_ well on the flight over! And it’s the most common form of transportation here in Hell!”

“I’ll walk.” The blonde snapped stubbornly, glaring at Izaya. “And how exactly is this making my time down here so wonderful, huh?”

Whoops. Izaya forgot the job description for a second, there.

“Of course, of course! Walking is also a great option in Hell!” Izaya swept over to Shizuo’s side immediately, helping him straighten up with a bright grin. “And I’ll check out some land-bound transportation options you can utilize besides walking once we get to the apartment.”

Shizuo merely grunted in response to that, leaning a bit heavily on Izaya as they walked down the sidewalk together.

Izaya began chattering about the new job Shizuo would be starting soon and all the great oni benefits that came with it, spitting out whatever charismatic advertisement spiel he’d rehearsed earlier for Shizuo’s initial arrival. Thanks to Shizuo’s remaining airsickness, Izaya was able to blast through the speech pretty well. No awkward questions or interruptions this time.

At least one thing was going right today.

“And when we get to my apartment, I’ll have a representative from one of the demon agencies we’ve partnered with, ready to help you get started!” Izaya continued to recite, still holding up Shizuo as they walked closer to Izaya’s apartment building. “It’s a transformation agency! One that’ll temporarily give you the appearance of an oni so you can work. Of course, every night you revert back to your human form, so don’t worry. And since it’s just an appearance make-over, your strength levels will remain the same, allowing you to train yourself at your current ability level.”

Shizuo grunted a bit louder at that statement, some of the strength finally returning to the blonde’s limbs as he pulled away from Izaya and began to walk on his own.  
Izaya eyed the blonde’s knees warily for a few seconds, just to ensure that the human wasn’t about to collapse anytime soon, then continued with his spiel once he was satisfied.

“Yes indeed! The spell will start as soon as you wake up in the morning and end once you come home in the evening. Sound great? I think so too! Also, one of my oni friends from Human Resources will be working with you in your new position, and he’ll know your identity as a human, so you’ll have someone you can depend on and ask questions to at work if necessary.”

“You have friends?” Shizuo snorted as they walked, seeming almost amused by the idea. “Never would’ve guessed that. You seem like way too much of a workaholic to make time for friendship.”

“Hey! I said he was a friend from work.” Izaya sniffed, counting the buildings as they walked by. “Of course I didn’t lose working time to make friends. I just happened to make them along the way where it was convenient.”

Shizuo fell silent and stared at Izaya for a few seconds, his face saying his point had been proven.

Izaya ignored the face, focusing instead on the third building coming up on their right. It was identical to all the others around, practically blending with every simple, black-bricked apartment complex on this street. A few flower pots hung out of its windows or on balconies here and there. Some clothes flapped in the hot air, drying steadily on laundry lines. You could hear some music coming from a few cracked windows near the top floors.

An average apartment complex for an average demon.

“We’re coming up on my apartment complex.” Izaya announced, gesturing to the building he was talking about. “Building H on this street. Apartment 402.”

Shizuo nodded and squinted at the fourth floor of the building, as if trying to guess which window led to Izaya’s room. Izaya doubted he’d be able to. He’d purposely noted what most of the apartment windows on his building decorated themselves with (the answer was window stickers – in second place was a flower pot on the balcony) and emulated that on his own apartment window. A series of mundane window stickers purchased as a value pack from the most commonly used convenience store in the area was all that peppered Izaya’s window.

Nothing incriminating. Nothing suspicious. He’d even picked plain white curtains for his window since that was the most common color used by his neighbors. Izaya’s apartment window blended perfectly with every window around it.

He was a master of hiding in plain sight.

Shizuo eventually gave up as they reached the base of the building, focusing his attention instead on following Izaya in and checking out the minimalistic, clean lobby area that covered the first floor. There was a single demoness working the front desk, her bob cut curling around goat ears jutting horizontally from the sides of her head. 

She glanced up at them as they walked in, the thick, rectangular pupils in her pale blue eyes narrowing in on them.

“Orihara!” She greeted him with a nod, her gaze trailing over Shizuo with mild curiosity before going back to him. “You have a guest waiting in your apartment today. Said he was from HR and his ID checked out with your list of approved visitors, so I rang him in.”

“Thank you, Clarette.” Izaya beamed at the lobby assistant, walking swiftly over to the dull black stairs off to the side of the desk. “I was expecting him. I’m glad he’s on time today.”

He jabbed a quick finger at Shizuo as the two of them began taking the stairs, calling over his shoulder to Clarette as he did so. “This is a client of mine from HR. He’ll be living with me for three months, and I’ll come register him tomorrow. Just a heads-up, he’s being registered as an oni.”

“There’s a fifty-bridge surcharge for oni residents.” Clarette called after him as they vanished up the stairs. “Is HR subsidizing?”

“Yep!” Izaya sang happily, taking the first turn to wander fully out of Clarette’s sight around the staircase. “Talk to you later, Clarette!”

As he and Shizuo continued to march up the stairs, Izaya could feel excitement buzzing in his veins again. Shiki had sent over the transformation rep already, so Shizuo’s contract could officially begin as soon as they were in the apartment.

Once Shizuo got invested in the life of an oni and started working out how to handle his strength, he’d definitely be a lot easier to manipulate as a client. Plus, since he’d promised to put up with any experiment Izaya wanted to put him through, Izaya could already begin planning some cool ones to try over the weekend or even just after Shizuo’s first few days of work.

There was so much he’d be able to do while Shizuo was here! He couldn’t wait to get started!

Izaya started giggling, skipping ahead a few steps as his tail whipped excitedly through the air behind him. Just a few more steps, and Izaya would begin having more fun than he’d experienced in ages!

Despite all the hiccups in his earlier plans, he was still going to have a great time with this new client.

Ooh! And there was the door to his apartment!

“Come on, Heiwajima-san. Hurry up!” Izaya sang, skipping over to the door and deftly slipping his key out of his pocket. “I can’t _wait_ to see what your new oni form will look like!”

“Don’t call me Heiwajima-san when we’re going to be living together.” Shizuo only grumbled as he walked begrudgingly over to Izaya, seemingly a little more nervous about the makeover than the demon was. “Just use Shizuo, or something. Be more casual.”

“Alright. I’ll come up with the most embarrassingly casual nickname for you in a few minutes.” Izaya said breezily, snickering at the glare Shizuo shot him. “For now, though, let’s head inside!”

Izaya unlocked the door to his apartment with a single flick and flung open the dark-red door, bounding inside eagerly.

“We’re here!” He called into the small space, stifling down another giggle as his tail twirled rapidly. “Whatever transformation rep is here, please come to the front door!”

It was probably someone Izaya knew. There was a limited amount of people on Izaya’s visitor pass list, and even fewer people who were allowed into his apartment without his presence. Maybe the rep he’d worked with on that one three-year transformation contract? Or the one who was a childhood friend of Shiki’s that Izaya used to call ‘uncle’ when he was younger? Yeah, that guy was on the pass list.

Well, whoever it was, Izaya couldn’t wait to see what they were about to do to Shizuo!

He heard footsteps off to his right and immediately spun towards his bedroom with a grin, ready to greet whoever it was that was approaching.

But the smile immediately froze on his face the instant his eyes landed on the figure.

It quickly dropped to be replaced by a frown, and then a suspicious glare, Izaya crossing his arms slowly and scowling at the unwelcome person.

“What the hell are _you_ doing here, Amon?” Izaya demanded, red eyes flashing. “Get out. This isn’t your business.”

“But transformation is one of my specialties!” The smooth-talking demon replied easily, bearing his dog-like teeth in that disgusting grin of his. “And when I see _your_ name pop up on a list of client-seekers, my dear, it becomes my business immediately.”

“Hate to break it to you, but I’m not part of your ‘business’ anymore.” Izaya said smoothly, grabbing Shizuo’s arm and pulling the awkward human away from the door. He gestured at the open door with a sarcastic, biting smile, red eyes glaring at the smirking man before him. “I’m not a part of your anything. So get out.”

“No.” Amon shrugged casually, still smirking at Izaya. “Like it or not, I took on the transformation rep job, so I’m still here on business. Even if you don’t want me. Now then,” His flaming yellow eyes flickered over to Shizuo, the inscrutable gaze looking the ex-bartender up and down too carefully for Izaya’s liking. “Introduce me to your client, please.”

Damn it.

Just when the day was going well.

Izaya glared at Amon for a few more seconds, but there wasn’t anything he could do. Unless he wanted to delay the start of Shizuo’s transformation, and that would only waste contract and company time. He just had to deal with this creep for a little while.

Figure out why the hell he was on Izaya’s visitor pass list and get him _off_ it afterwards, of course, but deal with him for now.

Izaya let out a forceful grunt, tail spiking at the air in displeasure as his horns curled inwards sourly. Then he closed the door to the apartment and turned to Shizuo, locking eyes with the thoroughly-confused human.

“Heiwajima-san, this is Amon.” Izaya said flatly, not even looking at the triumphant demon as he spoke. “A transformation specialist and one of the fifteen Marquises of Hell. He’s an upper-tier demonic noble, just under the ranks of the Princes of Hell, so he really shouldn’t be here posing as a rep. More so than that though, he shouldn’t be here because he’s also my ex-boyfriend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaand we finally have a point of drama!! Would you look at that? Things are going to get a little crazier now! Can't wait to see what's in the future! Also, I currently have a few different pathways planned out for this story, and I'm not fully decided on which one to take. I'm trying to decide if I should lean more towards a slice-of-life/humor story with all the usual sometimes-dark drama thrown in, or if I should shoot for a more action-based story that could get dark REAL fast.
> 
> Not sure. It depends on how the next few chapters go. Anywho! What do you guys think? If you have any thoughts or opinions, let me know down below! Hope to see you in the next chapter! <3


	7. Hell Hath No Fury Like An Ex-Boyfriend Scorned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year, everyone!!!! I hope you've all been well and thriving, despite the various challenges presented by 2020. I hope you all have a safe, happy, successful, and prosperous 2021 to follow!
> 
> But enough well-wishes from me. I hope you guys enjoy the new chapter! <3

Ex-boyfriend? Izaya had an ex-boyfriend?

Shizuo didn’t know why that thought weirded him out so much. Looking at the demon service rep, he could admit that the horned man was attractive and young-looking, probably in prime shape to be entering relationships. If he’d been a human, Shizuo wouldn’t have blinked twice at hearing about the existence of his love life.

It was just…such a surreal thing to be picturing actual, honest-to-goodness demons having relationship drama.

Weren’t they supposed to be powerful and fearsome beings, or something? Seeing Izaya’s petty glare and the Amon guy’s gloating smirk, they honestly just felt like demon cosplayers who’d gone through a bad break-up, only to run into each other at a convention.

Wait, did that make Shizuo the unfortunate third wheel who had to diffuse the situation between them? Crap. Shizuo was terrible at navigating conflict.

“Uh…nice to meet you.” The ex-bartender finally said aloud, holding out his hand awkwardly to the newcomer. “I’m Heiwajima Shizuo. Izaya’s client.”

“So I gathered.” Amon said smoothly, grabbing Shizuo’s hand with a friendly smile. Shizuo found his eyes drawn to the strange, dog-like teeth in his mouth, a little creeped out by their jagged edges that poked out slightly over his lips.

Beyond that feature though, Amon looked almost like a normal human, with thick, raven-black hair that sort of feathered out from his scalp, and dark-brown eyes that glinted with intelligence. He had a single piercing in his left ear, with an ink-black feather dangling from it that matched his hair. But no horns. No tail. No wings.

It was literally just the teeth, and they weren’t even that noticeable.

“You look pretty normal.” Shizuo said before he could stop himself, staring right into the demon’s brown eyes. “I mean, like a human.”

Amon’s smile widened the tiniest bit, revealing more of his canine teeth, as his eyes glittered in delight. “Yes, I’ve been told that quite often.” He said proudly, puffing out his chest as he pulled his hand out of Shizuo’s grasp. He ran his fingers through his hair, lifting his chin triumphantly as he reveled in his own appearance. “It’s a gift, really. Allows me to get much closer to humans than many other demons could.”

His eyes flicked instantly over to Izaya, a taunting edge entering them now as he grinned at the fuming service rep. “Isn’t that right, my dear?” He cooed in a sugary sweet voice, a laugh bubbling in the undertone of his words. “It’s so helpful for my ability to interact with humans. Unlike those unfortunate appendages of yours, hm?”

“Alright, do we really have to do this right now?” Izaya scowled, waving an irritated hand in the hair as his tail flicked erratically. “Like right now? Come on, Amon. You’re here on business, as you so aptly mentioned before.” Izaya jabbed a finger at Shizuo, red eyes burning with a barely-concealed threat. “So stick to _business_ instead of personal digs.” He added coolly, tail stabbing at the air as if to enunciate the point.

Amon held his hands up in the air, a cocky grin still plastered on his face as he did so. “Alright, alright. Straight to business, then.” He said cheerfully, his head turning to look back at Shizuo. “You used to love playing around and digging at each other, though. Why, you were almost _always_ picking fights when we were together.”

The hint of bitterness dripping from Amon’s tone with that last statement told Shizuo more than he needed to know about the circumstances of these two demons’ break-up. And it told him it was definitely time to step in and steer the conversation another direction.

“So my transformation.” He blurted, cutting Izaya off as the rep opened his mouth to make some kind of comeback. “Can we, uh, do that now?”

Izaya fumed for a few seconds at being denied his chance to speak, his tail spiraling furiously in the air behind him, but he seemed to cool down pretty quickly, all things considered.

Quick enough to cross his arms and give Amon an icily, business-like stare, adding an equally chilling smile to it for formality as he nodded his head towards Shizuo.

“Yes. The transformation service should begin now that my client has arrived.” The rep said calmly, wintry-politeness fixed on Amon. “I believe our paperwork has settled on a temporary transformation package, which will activate upon his exiting the apartment and re-activate with his return.”

Amon frowned at Izaya’s new demeanor, a small pout coming over his lips when he realized he wasn’t going to be toying with his ex’s mood anymore. He directed the pout towards Izaya, who merely met it with the same, unrelentingly cold expression as before. The demon rep was all business, now. Even Shizuo could tell there’d be no more room for jokes or jabs at this point.

Not even from an intrusive ex.

Amon held the pout for a few seconds, pitting it against Izaya’s stare as if hoping to melt past the ice, but eventually, a relenting sigh tore from his lips as the pout dropped. The canine-fanged demon planted one hand on his hip, looking at Shizuo with a much more bored expression than he’d worn on his arrival.

“You’re no fun when you get like this.” He muttered grumpily, eyes flicking up and down Shizuo’s body. “You were only reacting for, what, three minutes this time? You’re really building a thick skin up against me, my dear.”

“That’s the trick to dealing with irritating exes, isn’t it?” Izaya responded coolly, still smiling icily at the other demon. “Only, in your case, I don’t need a thick skin. Just enough common sense to tell me you aren’t worth my time anymore.”

Amon flinched at that one, rubbing the back of his feathery hair. “Ouch. Just stab me in the heart, why don’t you?” He whined, eyes flicking back to Izaya. “Come on, my dear. Can’t we at least be a little bit friendlier to each other?”

“Try asking about that before you barge into my apartment and drop digs at me in front of a client next time.” Izaya said smoothly, gesturing calmly towards Shizuo. “Now, your job? I believe you should be doing it.”

“Yes sir. Crack that whip as always.” Amon sighed again, giving Shizuo the same bored look from before. “And yes, to your earlier confirmation. HR contracted with us for a temporary transformation package, location-bound to the client’s home base.”

Here, Amon paused, taking a quick second to look around at their surroundings. “Wait, aren’t we going to leave for that home base now?” He asked with a frown, lifting an eyebrow curiously at Izaya. “I thought we were just meeting up here so he could know where to find you if he needed something, and then we’d be heading out. Why are you telling me to start the service now?”

“Because _this_ is his home base, Amon.” Izaya smiled formally, and Shizuo could see a flicker of triumph in those red eyes now. “Please begin.”

“Wait, what?!” Amon gawked at Izaya in shock, his brown eyes shocked beyond belief. “You can’t be serious right now. You never even let me sleep over! The hell you’re moving in with this rando on _day one_!”

“Professionalism, Amon,” Izaya’s smile widened the tiniest bit as he eyed the taller demon patronizingly. “Is a virtue.”

“And my profession is all about vice, so can it.” Amon snapped, not even trying to keep his temperament like Izaya had before as his head snapped around towards Shizuo. There was a snarl on his face now, which looked pretty disturbing with the slavering dog teeth poking out behind his lips.

Shizuo unconsciously readied himself for a fight, golden eyes narrowing as his fist clenched at his side. “How about you just get on with the transformation service, huh?” He growled lowly, his other fist rising up to meet it as he saw Amon’s hackles raise on his back. “I’m kinda getting tired of your clingy-ex bullshit.”

“Clingy ex?” Amon hissed, hunching over as though he was about to tackle Shizuo, his teeth glinting wickedly as his lips pulled back in a deeper snarl. “You dare call _me_ , a Marquis of Hell, a clingy ex?!”

“I think he’s spot-on with that description, personally.” Izaya put in casually, seemingly unconcerned as the two other men in his apartment began growling like dogs about to start brawling over a bone. “But who am I to judge? I’m just the recipient of your endless clinginess and the only one keeping a level head right now.”

“A level head?!” Amon suddenly spun on Izaya now, his canine teeth snapping angrily as he jabbed a harsh finger in Shizuo’s direction. “You’re letting some human you don’t even know move in with you! How in Lucifer’s name is that keeping a level head?!”

“Oh, you’re right. I should be so concerned about how he’ll take advantage of me.” Izaya said in a mock-frightened voice, widening his eyes innocently before rolling them and snorting at Amon’s reaction. “He’s a human, Amon. Even if he’s got some monstrous strength, he’s not exactly the one with the homefield advantage here. And if he did pull something on me, I have a clause in his contract to extract his soul immediately and subject it to 500 years of torment.”

“Wait, you can do that?” Shizuo looked uncertainly at Izaya, suddenly a lot more worried about the contract that he’d never read the terms of. “What other clauses are in that thing?”

“Nothing you need to worry about.” Izaya responded happily, turning to look at Amon with another cool stare. “I’ll be fine, so don’t worry. Quite frankly, Amon, you have no right to get angry with me for my living situation. You’re here to do one thing, and you need to do it and get out.”

Amon snarled at Izaya again, the latter demon simply watching him with a patient, knowing look as the former’s eyes blazed with livid rage.

Shizuo eyed the two of them carefully, unsure what he would do if Amon kept going and tried to attack Izaya or something. Should he punch the demon now before he became more of a threat? Would it be a terrible idea to get in an altercation with a Marquis of Hell? Shizuo still didn’t really know how the political situation here in Hell worked, but he was pretty sure a Marquis was higher up the rungs than Shizuo ever would be.

Picking a fight with one might cause more problems for him and Izaya than even the skilled service rep could handle.

But thankfully, Shizuo didn’t have to sit on that dilemma for long.

Amon’s snarl eventually diminished slightly on his face, the demon’s dog teeth hiding once more behind human lips even though the rage in his eyes was still burning hot. He stepped away from Izaya with a curt nod, turning sharply to face Shizuo.

“Let’s get this job done, then.” He said stiffly, raising his hands as a complex, glowing circle appeared on the ground beneath him.

Shizuo barely had time to look at the circle, its bright-crimson shape searing into his eyes, before it vanished without a trace into the dark wood of the apartment floor.

A sudden wave of nausea hit Shizuo in the moments after the symbol had vanished, the blonde stumbling into a wall beside him and leaning heavily on it to keep from crashing into the floor. His vision swam unsteadily, vision blurring as a piercing pain started to manifest behind his eyes.

“The nausea and migraines may last for fifteen minutes as the spell sinks in.” Amon’s sharp voice cut through the pain, Shizuo managing to look up from the floor to meet the demon’s hateful glare. “I hope it lasts longer, but I’m unfortunately good at my job.” Amon said next, tone even more bitter than it had been before as he spun on his heel to face the door. “He’ll transform the next time he leaves the apartment. Contact my company if you run into any problems with the spell.”

“Thank you for your time.” Izaya said calmly, opening the door for Amon with a formal smile. “Have a lovely day, Amon.”

The dog-toothed demon scowled at Izaya, eyes flashing with some choice words that he chose not to voice, before brushing past the horned demon into the hallway. Izaya shut the door behind him and Shizuo could hear his angry footsteps marching off down the hall, beginning a thumping procession down the stairs a few seconds later.

He was officially leaving.

“Lucifer, what a train wreck that man is.” Izaya suddenly sighed, his tired voice pulling Shizuo’s strained attention over to him.

The raven had a hand over his eyes and was shaking his head slowly, tail swishing lightly around his waist. “Not sure if you noticed,” The rep muttered, still not uncovering his eyes as he spoke. “But Amon’s a type of chaos demon. It’s where he gets his powers from, specifically his profound transformation abilities and mental manipulation. He’s usually big on stirring up problems and creating rivalries among friends and lovers.”

Izaya finally lowered his hand, shooting Shizuo a meaningful look with his tired, red eyes. “Which is great and all, but it means his personality is a freaking whirlwind.” He muttered. “Collected and taunting one second, whining and pathetic the next, ending with a dazzling display of anger management issues gone wrong.”

Izaya sighed again, shaking his head once more as he turned away from the door and walked off into the apartment. “Not all chaos demons are like that, but he certainly is. And he tends to drag everyone else’s emotional states on the ride with him.” He called over his shoulder as he vanished into the kitchenette.

Shizuo heard him rummaging around inside of a fridge, mumbling to himself over the electrical humming of the appliance before slamming its door shut again. He reappeared around the corner, two deep-blue cans in his hands that Shizuo didn’t recognize.

“I usually needed a lot of this after every conversation we had back when we were together.” Izaya sighed, offering one of the cans to Shizuo. “Not the best coping mechanism, but I liked him enough to put up with it for a while. As you can see, I still need it whenever he shows up.”

Shizuo glanced at the can, reading the brand-name scrawled across the metal container. Fallen Angel.

Geez, that was edgy.

“Is it alcohol?” Shizuo asked with a grunt, accepting the can nonetheless and squinting at it through the splitting migraine growing in his skull.

“The demon equivalent of it, yeah.” Izaya shrugged, cracking open the top of his lid with a clawed finger, pausing for a second, then doing the same for Shizuo’s. “Don’t ask me how it’ll affect a human’s internal organs. If it hurts, stop drinking. If you get liver damage, sue me later.”

“Got it.” Shizuo took a swig from the can without another word, humming at the burning sensation that raced down his throat.

It stung a bit more than some of the booze Shizuo had become unfortunately familiar with these past few months, definitely on the stronger side of things he’d consumed. It numbed some of the piercing pain behind his eyes, replacing it with a tingling warmth that started to fill his chest. Not bad.

Apparently, he and Izaya at least had similar tastes in alcohol, if not snack food.

He took another swig, relishing the next burn that drowned out some of the nausea and pain Amon’s spell had left him with.

Izaya eyed him for a few seconds, as if making sure he could actually handle the drink, before giving a satisfied nod and sipping lightly from his own can. He turned around on his heel, wandering through the apartment as Shizuo slowly drank and recovered from the spell by the entrance.

Within five minutes, he was back, and Shizuo was about halfway through the mind-numbing can.

“Take it easy. Your first day of work is tomorrow, and you probably shouldn’t show up with a hangover.” Izaya scolded, gesturing for Shizuo to follow him. “Come on. I set up my spare mattress on the floor of the bedroom for you, and I cleared out some space in the room where you can put your things.”

“Thanks.” Shizuo grunted, managing to push himself off the wall and trudge through the small apartment after the horned demon.

Izaya waved a hand over the bedroom set-up when they arrived, giving a brief overview of Shizuo’s assigned space in the back corner and a quick lecture on privacy in the bedroom.

“No looking through any of my things.” Izaya began, gesturing at his dresser and a few stacks of books resting by his bed. “No messing with the window set-up. It’s very particular.” He pointed at the window in the middle of the back wall between the bed and mattress, with its plain white curtains and a few random window stickers.

Shizuo couldn’t see what was so particular about the set-up – his eyes practically moved past the average decorations right after seeing them – but he gave a short nod anyway.

Izaya’s hand swept down to his bed next, the demon continuing his policy lecture. “No climbing in my bed, when I’m in it or otherwise, unless I ask you to.”

“Ask me to?” Shizuo repeated, shooting Izaya a baffled look. “What does that mean?”

“Ah, a boy becomes a man.” Izaya merely responded with a cryptic grin, eyes twinkling mischievously before he moved on with his rule list. “And last, don’t get dressed in here. It’s a bit strange, but I’m paranoid about people looking in and seeing me, and it’ll be worse if they see _you_. You’ll be in your human form when we’re at home, after all. We need to keep your true race a secret.”

“How could they see through the curtains?” Shizuo wondered, pointing at the drawn white cloth over the window. “Isn’t that the whole point of curtains?”

“Some demons have natural vision or magic that allows them to see through simple things like curtains.” Izaya shrugged, taking another sip from his can. “We can’t be too careful.”

“Where should I change then?” Shizuo asked next, frowning as he glanced back at the rest of the small apartment. “The kitchen?”

“I have a bathroom.” Izaya said drily, rolling his eyes as he jabbed a thumb towards a door on the opposite side of the apartment. “Final room in the house. Has a shower and a toilet, with a little bit of free space between both. You can change in there.”

Shizuo nodded slowly, taking in the odd rule with all the others. It seemed a little inconvenient, but he _had_ agreed to abide by all of Izaya’s whims while living with him. If the demon was going to be sharing his home, a home that was already pretty cramped and tiny, then Shizuo should at least respect his basic rules.

“Understood. I’ll do my best.” Shizuo said honestly, nodding his head at Izaya. “Any rules outside of the bedroom privacy policies for me to know about?”

“Do you cook?” Izaya asked immediately, eyes glinting as he sipped his can once more. “Because if you do, then I’m putting you to work.”

“Define cook.” Shizuo snorted, chugging the last of his own can as Izaya watched him. He licked his lips as he finished, letting the can hang in his hand by his side as he shot Izaya a skeptical glance. “If by heating leftovers and frozen meals you mean cook, then yes. I cook.”

“What a healthy individual you are.” Izaya sighed, his eyes losing their sparkle immediately as he sullenly began to finish off his own can.

“We can’t all find the time in our days to cook healthy, homemade meals.” Shizuo responded flatly, thinking back to the endless junk he’d been eating since he’d lost his last job. “Especially when you’re out job-hunting all day instead of earning money for ingredients.”

“I’m not criticizing. Just lamenting.” Izaya hummed, walking towards his kitchenette and glancing over the appliances glistening throughout it. “I cook a little, but I usually get home late, so I don’t ever feel like making much. I was hoping you’d be some culinary genius who could have five-course meals prepared for me every night when I return, but I guess that was giving you too much credit.”

Shizuo glared at the demon’s back, wondering if the tiny rep was going to be this antagonistic every day that they lived together from now on.

“So sorry I don’t meet your standards.” He growled, crumpling the metal can in his hand into a ball. “I’m not terribly good at anything that isn’t fighting or mixing drinks.”

“Ooh, maybe I should buy you some different kinds of alcohol to try, then.” Izaya said eagerly, spinning to face his fridge and examining its contents with a critical eye. “I would definitely enjoy watching you get wasted on them and making a fool of yourself as you figure out all their flavors. And if I could have a nice professional cocktail for free every weekend or so to boot, this living arrangement might just be worth it.”

“Is everything you demons do motivated by self-interest?” Shizuo scowled, feeling the metal of the can bite into his palm as he tightened his grip further. “And are you some kind of raging alcoholic?”

“Raging? Hardly.” Izaya sniffed, closing the fridge easily and tipping his head back to drink the last of his can. “I only drink when I see Amon or a few of my other choice exes. But who’s going to turn down a nice cocktail if they’re offered one?”

Shizuo continued to glare suspiciously at Izaya as the rep began listing the rules of the kitchen now, essentially boiling down to information about what Izaya was willing to cook and when, but he honestly wasn’t paying that much attention anymore.

It might’ve been the alcohol starting to kick in and meddle with his brain, but Shizuo was much more focused on Izaya himself.

The way the demon rep’s weight shifted from foot to foot as he talked, like he couldn’t stand being in one place for too long. The way his tail bobbed and weaved in the air in time with his speech, a visual display of the emotions his words were conveying. The way his horns curled and straightened so fluidly, practically dancing on top of his head sometimes. And more than anything, the weirdly…pretty shape of his face.

Shizuo stared blankly at the demon’s face, trying to wrap his head around what made it so attractive.

He wasn’t sure. It could’ve been the red-hued lips, or the alabaster-pale skin. It might’ve even been the stunning sharpness of his cheeks or his inhuman red eyes. Something about that face, even though it was easily one of the most demonic and untrustworthy things Shizuo had laid eyes on, just felt…enchanting.

Shizuo shook his head rapidly, trying to bring some clarity back to his alcohol-addled brain as Izaya kept yapping about popular recipes in Hell. He had to get those thoughts out of his head right now.

Izaya was a service agent, contracted with Shizuo to help him sell his soul. They were in a client-agent relationship. That and while Izaya had seemed like a kind, professional person back on the call so long ago, Shizuo was now discovering he was actually a petty, selfish little shit with some serious relationship baggage trailing over his head.

But in a way, Shizuo kind of felt more comfortable with a messed-up little shit than he did with a perfectly put-together service rep.

Somehow, seeing Izaya complain about his ex, drink down strong liquor, and rant about his long work shifts and limited patience for stupidity made him feel more…human.

Izaya suddenly paused in his rant, glancing over his shoulder at Shizuo, who was still watching him with a stupefied gaze.

“Hello? Heiwajima-san?” The rep asked, waving a hand in front of Shizuo’s eyes. “You’ve been listening to me, right? I don’t have to repeat everything? Because it’s all critically pertinent information about me and how important my life is.”

“I was listening, I was listening.” Shizuo said gruffly, snapping back to reality and smacking away Izaya’s hand. He looked away from Izaya under the pretense of a grumpy huff, but in reality, he was trying to hide the (alcohol-induced) blush spreading over his face.

Geez, he knew how to hold his liquor better than this. Why was he getting so emotional over this demon rep after just a single can of booze?

“I think the alcohol’s hitting me harder than I thought.” Shizuo grunted, finally looking back at Izaya after he felt his face cool down somewhat. “If there are any other house rules, tell them to me now. I think I’m gonna pass out on the mattress so I’m ready for work tomorrow.”

“Ooh, I’m so tempted to keep you up all night now that you’ve said that.” Izaya hummed, eyes looking genuinely troubled as though he was wrestling with the situation being presented for him.

Little shit.

“I’m going to sleep, and if you keep me up, I’ll be royally pissed-off.” Shizuo growled, holding up the metal can in Izaya’s face as a subtle threat. “Unless you want your furniture looking like this in the morning, I better be snoozing in twenty minutes. Got it?”

“So pushy! I was only playing.” Izaya whined, although it was clear from the poorly-hidden disappointment in his red eyes that he hadn’t been. The demon rep sighed dramatically, taking the crushed can from Shizuo’s hand and walking it over to a trash can with his own. He dropped them in, shooting Shizuo a sullen pout over his shoulder.

“I don’t think there are any other rules off the top of my head.” He admitted, eyes locking with Shizuo’s. “Again, I’ll make breakfast and dinner. It may or may not be pranked or altered in some way to screw with you in the future. Respect the privacy rules I’ve given for the bedroom. And…”

He put a thoughtful finger to his chin, humming low in his throat as his tail swished gracefully behind him. Eventually, he snapped his fingers, tail flicking once excitedly in the air to match it. “Right! My oni friend will be here tomorrow morning around 7 to take you to work. I leave at the same time, so we can leave together. You’ll be off before me, though. I’ll write down the address so you can call a taxi back if my friend doesn’t want to walk you.”

Izaya darted off into the apartment somewhere then came back, handing over a sticky note with an elegantly-scrawled address written on it. Shizuo stared at the handwriting as he took the note, recognizing its neat, almost calligraphic stye from Izaya’s signature on the contract. So his handwriting was like that all the time?

Why wasn’t Shizuo surprised? Izaya seemed like such an immaculate person. It’d be hard to imagine anything about the horned demon being unkept or messy.

Of course, his stupid, alcohol-addled brain didn’t translate those exact thoughts very well.

“Even your handwriting is pretty.” Shizuo slurred aloud, looking up at Izaya from the note. “It matches you.”

Izaya blinked a few times at that, then laughed brightly, red eyes sparkling as he clutched his stomach and doubled over with mirth. Shizuo scowled and watched the gleeful demon for a few minutes, too drunk to clarify his statement but sober enough to be embarrassed by his own idiocy.

What a freaking state to be in.

“Alright, alright. Enough.” Shizuo growled as the laughter continued, gripping Izaya’s shoulder roughly and jerking him upright. “Stop laughing. I’m too drunk for your shit.”

“It’s just one can of Fallen Angel.” Izaya snickered, wiping a tear from his eye as he grinned wickedly at Shizuo. “You sure these aren’t barely concealed desires rising up at a little alcohol-induced prompting? I’ll be happy to help you sort them out if they are!”

Shizuo’s embarrassment only increased at Izaya’s chirping, eager voice, and he quickly looked away, face flaming once more. “N-No. You’ve got it wrong. That’s not what I was trying to say.” He growled, but even he could tell it sounded like a pathetic excuse.

“Mm hm.” Izaya hummed again, a giggle hidden just under the tone of his voice. “Sure, sure. Whatever you say, my dearest Shizu-chan.”

“Whatever I…wait, what?” Shizuo’s head snapped back to Izaya instantly, the demon still grinning at him from ear to ear.

“Whatever you say!” Izaya repeated happily, cocking his head at the taller man. “It means I’ll agree with whatever lies you wanna tell, but I’m not _really_ falling for them. I could’ve sworn that was a human expression. Did I use it wrong?”

“No, it is.” Shizuo waved a hand in the air, trying to get past that point. “But what the hell did you just call me?”

“Oh! My super casual and embarrassing nickname for you!” Izaya said gleefully, clapping his hands together as his tail spun erratically. “I’ve been workshopping it in the back of my mind since we entered the apartment. The can of Fallen Angel helped sort it out, finally. Shizu-chan! Do you like it?”

His eyes shone like stars as he leaned in towards Shizuo, teeth glinting in the light of his kitchen. “I hope you hate it and that it grates on your ears whenever I speak! That would make me happy.” He declared, completely unashamed to show what an asshole he was.

Shizuo was beginning to form a decent image in his mind of the kind of wacked-out being Izaya was.

It wasn’t a very good one.

“Yes. I hate it. Congratulations.” Shizuo growled, his ears turning pink at just the thought of being called that in public. “Never use that in front of anyone, please.”

“But I spent so much time on it!” Izaya whined, crossing his arms petulantly. “I’m using it! It’d be a shame to waste such genius. Now, get to bed, Shizu-chan. I need to call and figure out where your replacement clothes and gift baskets are. They’re taking forever to arrive.”

Izaya waved Shizuo off without another word, pulling his phone out of his pocket and scrolling through his contacts to begin the phone calls.

He looked for all the world like the conversation was over and that Shizuo wouldn’t get a single say to combat his decision.

He probably wouldn’t.

“I think I understand what Amon meant when he said ‘crack that whip’.” Shizuo mumbled to himself, glaring briefly at the humming demon who was flat-out ignoring him now in favor of the phone. Then the ex-bartender just sighed and shook his head, stumbling back towards the bedroom and over to his new mattress.

He eyed it for a few seconds, wondering if he should worry about how demon mattresses differed from human ones, but he was honestly too exhausted to give a crap. The day was beginning to take its toll on him, from arriving in security and fist-fighting with demons, to soaring through the air on a vomit-inducing chicken-taxi, to soaking in relationship drama between a bi-polar nobleman and a manipulative service rep.

It was all way too much, and Shizuo _still_ had work in the morning tomorrow.

“At least I have a job now.” He grunted, collapsing to his knees on the mattress and letting his face fall forward into the pillow. He closed his eyes, his body feeling heavy and almost pinned down to the soft surface below him. The low murmur of Izaya’s voice from the kitchen was surprisingly soothing, a pleasant, constant buzz that lulled Shizuo to sleep faster than he’d thought possible.

Before he knew it, he was out like a light, snoring away in a demon’s apartment in Hell.

And his life choices were only going to go downhill from there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I think Amon is going to be one of the better ex-boyfriends I've given Izaya in the past lol. He just seems like a clingy, emotional wreck of an ex instead of a manipulative psychopath or serial killer. Izaya has moved up in the world of dating.
> 
> Maybe...
> 
> In any case! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! In the next one, we finally get to see Shizuo trying to figure out life in Hell as an oni (and starting to come across some of the mysteries surrounding Izaya's role in Hell). Also, perhaps with the next chapter or the one after that, I think I have a pretty cool announcement I'd like to make to you all! We'll see what happens.
> 
> For now, thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a Happy New Year! <3 <3 <3


	8. The Devil Finds Work for Idle Hands to Do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody! I just had this moment of confusion where I didn't remember if I'd posted on the first of this month or not, but thankfully, AO3 has my back with dating chapter updates, haha.
> 
> In any case! I hope you guys are ready to start diving deeper into the thickening plot of this story - let's get started!
> 
> I'll see you at the end of the chapter! <3

“Shizu-chan.”

Shizuo groaned and rolled over into the mattress, burying his face in the pillow. What was that annoying voice? Had Shinra come busting into his apartment again to check on him?

“…Told you I’m fine.” He managed to mutter, refusing to look up at the crazy doctor. “Just let me wallow…”

“Shizu-chan, I’m not letting you wallow. You have _work_ , remember?” The voice sounded amused now, and a little patronizing, as a slender finger knowingly tapped the back of Shizuo’s head. Shizuo growled and smacked it away, wondering why Shinra was acting like an obnoxious little shit so early in the morning.

“Stop rubbing it in that I have no job.” He huffed, grabbing the edge of the blanket on his back and pulling it over his head. Now buried in a canopy of warmth, Shizuo felt his muscles relax as he let out a sigh. “…Just go away.” He murmured, settling further into the soft mattress below him.

“Nope! Akabayashi will be here soon to pick you up, and I intend to make sure you are actually ready for him to do so.” The voice continued chirpily, the finger continuing to poke Shizuo’s head through the blanket. “Otherwise, it looks bad on me. And I _never_ let anything make me look bad. Understand, dearest?”

“Who’re you calling dearest?” Shizuo snarled, swiping more ferociously at the irritating hand. “Don’t you have Celty or something? Get lost, Shinra.”

“Shinra? Well, you don’t even remember who I am.” The voice sniffed haughtily, and Shizuo could hear footsteps padding away for a few minutes before they returned. “I want you to know that you’ve insulted me, so I feel perfectly justified in doing what I’m about to do.”

Shizuo didn’t even have time to think about the inherent threat in that statement before the blanket was ripped off of his body and a wave of disgustingly warm, sticky liquid was thrown all over him.

Shizuo shouted in outrage and shock and sat up immediately, eyes snapping open to look in horror at his coated body. There was a putrid, green slime coating every inch of him, giving off a rancid scent like garbage mixed with bile that curled in his nose unpleasantly. He clapped a hand over his face instantly, pinching his nose as tightly as possible as the disgusting smell made his eyes water. His whole body felt hard to move around, the green slime sticking to him and weighing down his movements. He felt so gross just sitting in place as he stared at the seeping liquid all over him.

“Shinra!” He roared, glaring in pure fury at the stupid doctor standing by his bed. “What the hell are you…” The shout suddenly died in his throat as he stared blankly at the smiling creature before him.

His eyes went to the licorice-like horns on the creature’s head first, watching them twist up towards the sky in pure delight. Then he noticed the spade-tipped tail in the air behind the figure, flicking happily around as though pleased with itself. He took in the claws on slender fingers and the bone-white fangs poking over red lips next, his gaze finally settling on the triumphant, satisfied face of the clearly inhuman man before him.

“Why _hello_ , Shizu-chan!” Izaya – the demon customer service agent – sang happily, winking at Shizuo as he leaned towards the dumbstruck human. “You’re quite the early riser, I see. It’ll be so wonderful to have company every morning from now on! And of course, I don’t mind waking you up each time if you’d like.”

He gestured proudly at the green goo dripping off Shizuo’s body, a grin plastered all over that shit-eating face of his. “In fact, from now on, if you aren’t up before six, I think I’ll make it a great tradition of ours to wake you up with my compost bucket. How does that sound?”

“Your what?” Shizuo growled, his mind still trying to catch up with everything that was going on as he tightened his hold on his own nose even further. “What did you throw on me, you brat?”

“My compost bucket!” Izaya giggled, holding up a black metal bucket in his hand. “Trash that isn’t made of organic material gets thrown in the trash can so that collector demons can incinerate all of it when you take the garbage out. But stuff like food gets thrown in the compost bucket.”

He turned the bucket in the air so Shizuo could see a weird pentagram drawn on its side, one that had a copyright symbol in the top right corner just above it.

“Compost buckets have spells on them that instantly break down all organic material so you’re left with this sludge, which is usually collected at the end of the week and used for fertilizer.” Izaya explained with a cheerful grin, tapping a claw on the pentagram. “Never before have I been gladder that the apartment complex partnered with Goblin Gobblers to provide compost buckets for everyone. Their spells are _famous_ for the horrible smell their compost gives off.”

The sadistic demon giggled again, lowering the bucket and eyeing Shizuo tellingly. “And the rumors aren’t wrong! You smell like a dying goblin, alright.” He held a hand over his nose as he continued to snicker at Shizuo’s predicament, delight evident in his devilish red eyes. “Maybe you should shower before Akabayashi gets here, hm?”

“I wouldn’t _have_ to if you’d woken me up like a normal person!” Shizuo snapped, his rage fully restored as he finally recalled everything that was going on.

He’d made a soul contract with this evil demon rep on a trial basis: one to let him live in Hell for three months and work as an oni to help him learn to control his strength and anger. He’d also made the foolish decision to live with this sadistic service rep instead of on his own, and it was clear that Izaya was planning on taking _full_ advantage of his moronic choice.

“Now, now.” Izaya tutted, wagging his finger at Shizuo with a patronizing look. “Since you’re living here with me, I’m going to take every opportunity I can to make things completely abnormal around here! I want to see how you react. I’m taking notes on everything you do!”

Izaya’s eyes sparkled happily at the thought of observing Shizuo, the excited rep practically dancing out of the bedroom with the compost bucket swinging in his hand.

“Now anyway, get up, grab some clothes, and go to the bathroom. Remember you have to change in there. And you might as well shower while you’re at it.”

Izaya paused just past the doorway to the bedroom, leaning his head back to shoot Shizuo a quick wink. “I promise I won’t peek on day one!” He sang, giggling again as he continued his skip off into the apartment.

Shizuo unwittingly felt his face flame up at the comment, the ex-bartender muttering angrily to himself as he wiped some slime off his face and stood up from the mattress.

He glared at the slime-sodden place he’d just been sitting in, reeling back from the foul stench emanating from it now. There was _no way_ he was sleeping on that pile of gunk tonight if it wasn’t cleaned up.

But would Izaya even clean it?

“Probably not.” Shizuo scowled, grabbing one end of a dripping blanket and eyeing it sullenly. “If he doesn’t have to clean his own sheets, then there’s no way he’d think of touching mine.”

Shizuo blinked briefly at his own words, glancing over at the perfectly-made bed on the other side of the room. Its black sheets glistened under the red light pouring in from the window, the whole ensemble made up pristinely as if to match its meticulously put-together sleeper.

A slow smile began to spread over Shizuo’s lips. He lifted one of his hands into the air, glancing at the horrible slime dripping off it onto the floor.

Oh yes. He had a method of revenge for that petty demon.

Thirty minutes later, Shizuo had finished up with his shower and had changed into the new clothes Izaya had ordered the day before for him, a dark blue button-down shirt and a pair of simple black slacks. He actually looked admittedly nice in them when he checked his reflection in the mirror, giving himself a once-over for his first day at work.

Then again, he had no idea how he’d _actually_ look for his first day once he stepped outside the apartment.

The transformation spell Amon had put on him yesterday would kick in after that and Shizuo would become an oni for the rest of the day.

Shizuo fiddled with the blue collar on his shirt, trying to put down some of the rising anxiety in his stomach at the thought of that. He didn’t know how the transformation would go, or if it would be a quick or painless process. What if it was like those awful scenes in movies and TV shows where you heard all the skin and bones ripping as the body contorted into a new shape?

God, Shizuo hoped he wouldn’t have to go through that every time he left the apartment.

Even so, Shizuo gave a simple nod at his reflection, deeming himself ready for the day, and stepped out of the still-steamy bathroom.

He wandered towards the kitchen, sticking his head in to notice Izaya bustling around the small space, humming to himself as he moved.

The smaller man seemed to be putting the finishing touches on breakfast, taking a small saucepan off the stovetop and grabbing a metal ladle to spoon a dark-brown sauce out of it. He carried the sauce over to two plates of pink meat on the counter, casually spreading delicate stripes of sauce over their tops.

Shizuo had no idea what the meal was – he’d certainly never encountered pink meat on Earth that was actually _safe_ to eat – but his stomach growled nonetheless upon seeing the dishes.

Izaya perked up at the sound, his slightly-pointed ears seeming to twitch as his horns curled inwards.

He glanced over his shoulder to confirm the sound and his tail twirled happily in the air behind him, a wide grin breaking out over the demon’s face.

“My Shizu-chan is here!” Izaya cheered eagerly, finishing his ladling work and placing the saucepan back on the stovetop. He deftly flicked off the flames on the stove, giving the kitchen a quick once-over to make sure everything else was off before grabbing the plates off the counter. “Good, good. As promised, I made breakfast for the both of us. Let’s pop into the bedroom real quick to eat it.”

“The bedroom?” Shizuo repeated in confusion, a little bit of dread filtering into his stomach at the thought of Izaya seeing his revenge before he’d left the apartment. “Why there?”

“It’s where my dresser is and I usually eat on top of the dresser since I don’t own a table.” Izaya said breezily, brushing past Shizuo and marching purposefully towards the back room. “Come on, Shizu-chan! I hope you like two-headed bronze bull.”

…Did Shizuo even want to ask about what that tasted like? Probably not.

He just sighed and followed Izaya into the room, hoping the demon rep wouldn’t notice the “surprise” he’d left on the black bed.

Fortunately for him, Izaya seemed way too focused on breakfast to even glance back at the beds and mattresses in the room, probably chalking up the horrid smell to just Shizuo’s mattress as he placed the plates on top of his dresser. He stood by one of the plates, his back to his own bed, and watched Shizuo walk up with sparkling eyes.

“Come on! Let’s eat!” The rep chirped, horns twisting again as he grabbed a piece of the pink meat and popped it into his mouth.

Shizuo watched the rep chew uncertainly, noting the precision with which Izaya’s fangs seemed to slash through the bull meat. It didn’t seem like it was dangerous to eat. Shizuo just hoped he wouldn’t keel over after consuming too much demon cuisine.

Then again, Izaya seemed knowledgeable about humans. He probably knew what was safe for Shizuo to eat, right?

…Right?

Without letting himself dwell on that thought for too long, Shizuo grabbed a piece of the meat before him and threw it into his own mouth, chewing down as fast as possible before he could second-guess the decision.

The meat was surprisingly spicy, with an aftertaste that almost burned Shizuo’s throat. The sauce was a rich, savory one, almost like gravy, and it soothed the burning sensation of the meat as the ex-bartender swallowed it down. Everything was fragrant and actually pretty delicious.

Holy crap. Izaya was a good cook.

“Thanks.” He grumbled out, feeling a little guilty about the green slime he could see resting on Izaya’s bedsheets now. “It’s good.”

“Of course it is. _I_ made it.” Izaya smirked proudly, continuing to dine on his own meal as his tail swirled triumphantly behind him. “Now eat up. We’ve got about twenty minutes before Akabayashi arrives to take you to work. Maybe less since he likes to show up early.”

Shizuo just nodded at the reminder, deciding not to ask Izaya anything about this new job he’d be taken to shortly. It seemed unfair to pile so much responsibility on the rep, asking him to let Shizuo into his home, keep him fed, wake him up on time, and explain the terms of his new job all in one morning. He’d just ask this Akabayashi person whenever he arrived and took Shizuo there.

Hopefully, he’d be willing to answer some questions about it.

Breakfast finished in relative peace, the two men scarfing down the rest of their food without a word, Shizuo mostly watching Izaya as they ate and Izaya fiddling with his phone while absently shoving food between his lips.

Shizuo was beginning to get the impression that Izaya didn’t know how to stop working, even while he ate. He could see the demon’s brow furrow every now and then as problems came up, the demon muttered occasionally about certain co-workers or other demons at work as he typed things out on his phone.

A few times, he paused to giggle, eagerly scrolling through his screen as if something interesting had come up. It was like for Izaya, the focus of breakfast wasn’t the quality of the food at all, but more like the necessity of getting energy into his body so he could devote more time to his job.

He was a good worker, Shizuo had to give him that.

But he seriously needed to learn to take a break.

When they both finished their meals, Shizuo took the empty plates to the kitchen and managed to clean them up, scrubbing the remnants of the gravy-like sauce off the plates and setting them over on a metal rack to dry.

Izaya leaned against the kitchen entrance behind him, still fiddling on his phone even as he occasionally glanced up to make sure Shizuo wasn’t ruining anything.

It was weird, especially since it was only day one of them living together, but Shizuo already felt so…domestic.

Like it was natural for them to have this unspoken routine, and that everything was progressing as it should’ve been. Shizuo had never felt this effortlessly comfortable around someone, not even Celty.

…Figures the first person he felt normal around was a freaking demon from Hell.

Shizuo couldn’t dwell on that thought for too long though because a doorbell suddenly rang throughout the house, grabbing both his and Izaya’s attention instantly.

“Akabayashi’s here!” Izaya said gleefully, slipping his phone into his pocket and heading over to the door immediately. “Come on, Shizu-chan. Time for us to leave for work.”

Shizuo took a deep breath to prepare himself, walking slowly after Izaya as the bouncy demon yanked open the apartment door without hesitation.

Shizuo nearly fell back as soon as his eyes landed on the figure just behind the door.

It was a towering, seven or eight-foot-tall ogre, with vibrant crimson skin and even brighter, flame-red hair. A pair of sunglasses rested over the creature’s eyes, with a sickening scar raking over one eye and down a crimson cheek. The oni’s face was twisted into a half-smirk, its massive, clawed hands gripping a surprisingly slender black cane. Its whole frame was clothed by a smart black suit, a weird contrast to the rest of the vicious figure standing at their doorstep.

“Orihara-san.” The oni grumbled in a deep voice, his tone warm as he patted Izaya’s shoulder with one massive hand. The gesture was friendly, but the oni’s hand was large enough to engulf Izaya’s shoulder and the top part of his upper arm, the much slenderer and delicately-framed demon beaming up at the oni with sparkling eyes.

“Akabayashi-san!” He greeted, placing a hand that seemed tiny by comparison on the oni’s chest. “Good to see you again! And thank you for agreeing to help my client, Heiwajima-san.”

After a whole morning of nothing but “Shizu-chan” and “dearest” escaping the demon’s lips, hearing the formal version of his name again almost threw Shizuo for a loop.

But he shook off the feeling and offered the oni at the door a polite nod, giving a quick thanks to the demon for his time.

Akabayashi smiled at Shizuo in approval, tapping his cane against the ground as he brought his hand away from Izaya’s body.

“It’s no trouble at all.” He assured the both of them, stepping away from the door to allow them space to exit. “Now, shall we get going?”

“Let’s!” Izaya grinned eagerly, practically hopping out of the apartment before spinning around to face Shizuo eagerly. “Come on! I can’t wait to see what your oni form looks like.”

A little bit of the fear from earlier rose up in Shizuo’s gut again, but he squashed it down quickly under the expectant gazes of the two demons before him. He couldn’t afford to back out now. He had to see this through.

With only a split second of hesitation, Shizuo stepped out of the apartment, closing his eyes and tensing up in preparation for the coming change.

He saw a bright flash of red light behind his eyelids, one that reminded him of the flash from Amon’s pentagram before, but it faded away before he could really focus on it.

When he opened his eyes hesitantly, and glanced down at himself, he was shocked to see the change.

“Ooh, very nice.” Izaya was purring, clapping appreciatively as his gaze raked Shizuo up and down. “You look like one of my exes, actually.”

“Oh yeah. Amdusias, right?” Akabayashi muttered in agreement, nodding at Shizuo. “Wasn’t he a model for that one oni magazine?”

“Sure was! Before he started his own.” Izaya chirped, finishing his perusal of Shizuo’s new form and offering the ex-bartender a bright grin. “Want me to take a picture and show you, Heiwajima-san?”

Shizuo managed to shake his head no in response, lifting a hand up in the air before himself in astonishment, peering at the thick, white claws protruding from blazing red skin. He grabbed some strands of his hair, pulling the rough blonde locks in front of his face and rubbing them between his fingers.

He glanced over the rest of his body, experiencing a strange sense of inertia at how much taller he’d become.

He was hulking over even Akabayashi now, probably close to nine feet tall, if he had to guess, and his muscles had filled out with the rest of his frame accordingly. His arms were positively bulging, sculpted flesh like a marbled statue to match the thick tendons of muscle in his trunk-like legs. His whole body felt sturdy and invincible, his abdomen even more jacked than before as he laid a hand gingerly on it. He could feel horns spiraling up from his head, too, and a quick touch to them told him they were curling like ram’s horns off to the side of his head.

He had no idea how the clothes Izaya had bought for him weren’t bursting from his new frame, pressing tightly against his chest and thighs as they were, but he supposed it had something to do with demon magic.

Izaya was eyeing the clothes scrutinizingly now, fixing the collar around Shizuo’s neck (and standing on his tiptoes to even barely reach it). “It looks like I guessed a little too small for your oni size.” He murmured, patting Shizuo’s chest and examining the tightness of the fabric on the new oni. “The clothes are at least a size or two off. Pity. I’ll just have to order some more outfits in a size that stretches for a larger oni form.”

He shrugged and removed his hands from Shizuo’s body, beaming up at Shizuo with sparkling eyes. “Well, well, my handsome client, it looks like you’re all ready for work.” The demon chirped, tail bobbing in the air behind him. “You can walk off with Akabayashi now. I’ll call a quick taxi for myself and be out of your hair.”

He gave a short wave to the two oni by his door, closing and locking the apartment door behind them and dashing off down the hall.

Shizuo watched him go, almost wanting to call the cheerful rep back for moral support, but saying nothing as the raven-haired demon vanished down the stairs.

“Let’s take the elevator.” Abakayashi suggested now that they were alone, giving Shizuo another appreciative glance. “That form is much larger than your old one, so you might not have enough mobility to comfortably navigate those tiny steps anymore.”

“Sounds like a good idea.” Shizuo rumbled, shocking himself with the even deeper quality of his new voice.

Akabayashi chuckled at the look on Shizuo’s face, patting the blonde on his shoulder comfortingly. “Don’t worry. You’ll get used to your new form eventually.” He promised, leading Shizuo down the hall to a black metal elevator. “You have three months here in Hell, after all. That’s plenty of time to adjust.”

“I hope so.” Shizuo said aloud, managing to prepare himself for the deep voice this time as he and Akabayashi crammed themselves into the tiny elevator in the middle of the hall.

Shizuo had to bend over to fit inside it, the new oni grumbling about the annoyingly small space as Akabayashi took over choosing the correct button for the ground floor.

When they arrived, Akabayashi exited first, giving the demoness at the front desk a polite nod before sweeping out of the building entirely, Shizuo following close behind. He felt like he could sense the demoness’s eyes riveted to his back as he walked, and his self-consciousness over his new, massive frame only grew.

He’d already been freakishly tall for a Japanese man. Why did he have to be unnaturally tall as a demon, too?

Shoulders hunching, Shizuo walked after Akabayashi into the red streets of Hell, the ex-bartender eyeing the skies as demons filled it, flying off to work. The clouds above them seemed to lighten as more and more demons left, steadily bringing a strange sense of daylight to this underground world.

Weird.

Shizuo shook his head to pull himself away from the distractions around him, focusing on Akabayashi’s suited back as they walked.

“So…what exactly is my job?” Shizuo got out, watching the red-haired demon intently.

Akabayashi glanced over his shoulder at Shizuo, a sly smile on his face. “What every good oni’s job is, Heiwajima-san.” The demon said smoothly, gesturing for Shizuo to walk alongside him. “A security or disciplinary position.”

Shizuo trotted up alongside the oni, gazing around at the demons beginning to speckle more and more of the surrounding area. “And what does that mean?” He asked, nodding politely at a young, horned woman who’d just stepped out of her own apartment complex.

Akabayashi laughed at Shizuo’s question, humming to himself as he tapped along the streets with his cane.

“Well, to put it bluntly, you’re in charge of incoming human souls.” The red-haired demon explained, earning Shizuo’s attention once more. “As a security officer, you would need to make sure those souls don’t escape Hell, especially since they’re sinners who need to be punished. Sinners try to make breaks for the staircase all the time, and security oni have to stop them.”

Shizuo huffed in understanding, trying to recall the long line of people he’d seen at Customs back when he’d first arrived. He was pretty sure there had been more of these red-skinned ogres walking along the lines, keeping a close eye on the humans within them.

And of course, there had also been the oni who’d been called when _his_ soul had arrived, and had been tasked with taking him back to the regular line.

Oh God. Would it be extremely awkward if he ended up working alongside those same oni he’d fought with before? They wouldn’t recognize him like this, right?

“A security position is easy and it’s what most new oni get assigned on day one.” Akabayashi was continuing, pulling Shizuo’s attention back to him as they walked. “A disciplinary position is harder, and I’d recommend that you in particular avoid them.”

“Why me in particular?” Shizuo asked as they turned a corner, walking towards what appeared to be a busy bus stop.

“Because of what kind of creature you are inside.” Akabyashi said immediately, giving Shizuo a meaningful look. “Disciplinary positions are all about enacting the various tortures on human souls that they’ve earned as sinners. You know, beating them repeatedly with spiked clubs, filling their stomachs with boiling bronze to sear them alive, forcing them to climb spiked trees. There’s more, but I think you’ve gotten my point.”

Shizuo felt like the new vibrant color of his skin was already draining from his face, the thought of those endless tortures making his knees almost feel weak. Those sorts of things were awaiting _all_ sinners when they died? If they had earned them? That sort of mindless, endless suffering would break someone’s spirit, he was sure of it.

Maybe that was the point.

“I agree.” Shizuo finally managed to say aloud, nodding once at Akabayashi as he and the red oni climbed aboard a long bus that had just pulled in. “I don’t think the disciplinary positions are right for me.”

He’d never be able to hurt another human so much, no matter what they’d done.

Well…unless they maybe pissed him off to the point where he was seeing red, in more than just the landscape.

“That’s what I thought.” Akabayashi grinned widely at Shizuo, grabbing one of the overhead handles as the bus began moving. “So we’ve gotten you a nice security position instead. You’ll still have to beat human souls if they try to escape, but knocking them around a bit before shoving them back in line is fine. Most humans are terrified to even look at oni, so a small beating from us is usually enough incentive to behave.”

Shizuo nodded in understanding, his hand squeezing his own overhead handle tightly as the bus began to rocket down the street.

He glanced around at some of the other bus patrons, noting with unease the staring looks he seemed to be getting from everyone. Some people looked away hurriedly as soon as he caught them looking, faces and ears turning red as he watched them, but others simply continued to stare unabashedly.

Did he really look that strange as an oni? Was he a freak in this new form, too?

Shizuo nervously fiddled with the collar on his shirt, praying the day would turn out better as the bus shot through the city.

Akabayashi was still chatting with him as they went, explaining to him how oni were considered government workers in Hell and so could ride on public transportation units for free, among other benefits, but Shizuo was only half paying attention.

When the bus finally stopped at what Akabayashi deemed their destination, he and Shizuo both exited the bus, the latter very aware of the eyes still plastered to his back as he went.

“Well, here we are.” Akabayashi declared suddenly, gesturing at a massive building before them. Shizuo stared at the building in confusion, taking in its strange appearance with a little bit of suspicion. It almost looked like pictures of ranches he’d seen back on earth, with a large main house in the middle and much smaller, longer compound buildings scattered in the space behind it. He could see large fields fenced-in with red and black pipes behind this main house as well, with indistinct, blurry forms bustling around in them.

“This is one of the largest meat-providing ranches in Superbia.” Akabayashi further explained, lowering his hand from the air and resting it on his cane. “The owner is a Duke, heading a powerful demon family. They essentially raise some of the main animal species here in Hell that we eat. Very rich family and very important to Superbia’s local economy and agricultural setting. They employ human workers on the ranch, usually through indenture contracts.”

“What’s an indenture contract?” Shizuo asked instantly, feelings his palms begin to sweat as the usual prickling of first-day-on-the-job anxiety filled him.

“Sinners can agree to work for sponsoring demons for a period of time if their souls aren’t worth enough to get what they want when they contact demons.” Akabayashi shrugged simply. “Demons like the Duke who runs this place will offer to sponsor the value of the human’s soul in return for a set number of years that the human will be enslaved to that demon. It’s a popular system among the upper class in Hell. Gets you lots of free labor.”

Akabayashi pointed his cane at the main house, nodding his head sagely towards it. “The Duke of this ranch is one of the most frequent sponsors for human souls, as you can no doubt see from the thousands of human souls milling out there in the fields. The Duke is also quite the fan of Izaya, I hear, so take care not to mention that you know him or live with him.”

“Wait, a fan?” Shizuo frowned, slightly confused about that concept as he shot Akabayashi a puzzled look. “How? Why?”

“Izaya’s the best at tricking humans into indenturing their souls for way longer than they need to.” Akabyashi sighed, checking his watch as they stood in place. “Most sponsoring demons love him. He gets them slaves for five hundred years when their usual asking price should’ve only set them for fifty. He’s good at his job, as I’m sure you know. Now, we don’t have much time before your shift starts, so I recommend heading in and trying to find your new boss.”

“R-Right.” Shizuo swallowed back his anxiety, following Akabayashi up to the main building and entering with him.

The inside of the building reminded Shizuo of a cozy log cabin, with rustic furniture scattered about and strangely tasteful paintings lining the walls. There were lush carpets all over the floor, and a warm, crackling fireplace filled nearly an entire wall, giving the log cabin a sense of luxury and wealth.

Shizuo looked around slowly, taking in the surreal sight as Akabayashi announced their arrival.

Barely a few seconds later, a tall woman with severe blue eyes walked up to them, her skin a pale-yellow color and her shockingly white hair flowing down to her waist. Thick blue horns curled on her head, reaching at least a few feet into the air above her and splitting off into multiple branches like the horns of a stag. She wore a black business-suit that seemed to somehow enhance the unforgiving features of her expression, and Shizuo could immediately tell that this woman was used to being in charge.

She stopped before them and crossed her arms, looking them up and down with a harsh frown.

“The new worker, Akabayashi?” She asked, looking up at the red-haired oni critically. “Is this him?”

“Yes ma’am.” Akabayashi said respectfully, bowing his head to the woman. “He can get started watching the fields right away.”

“Good. We need more workers out there.” The woman said coldly, her eyes flickering to Shizuo now. “We’ve had five breakout attempts in just the past two days, and one managed to get past the ranch borders. I hope you can keep my souls where they belong, Heiwajima.”

“Yes ma’am. I will.” Shizuo nodded, bowing to the woman to follow Akabayashi’s example as she looked him up and down.

“I am a Duke.” The woman said next as he straightened up, her eyes narrowed harshly. “I do not tolerate laziness that allows my workers to escape me. I do not tolerate mistakes. You will work in the southern field and you will not let a single soul step out of line. Is that clear?”

Shizuo nodded again, doing his best not to shift under the unforgiving demoness’s glare.

Eventually, she turned away from him, offering Akabayashi a brief nod. “Well, he seems like a good worker. I appreciate this, Akabayashi.” She said tersely, spinning on her heel to face away from the two oni. “Now get to work. To the fields immediately, Heiwajima.”

“Yes ma’am.” Shizuo called after the woman, relieved as her powerful presence left the room.

“Duke Gremory is quite the demon, isn’t she?” Akabyashi murmured in a low voice to Shizuo, leading the ex-bartender out of the main house and walking with him towards the southern field. “I wouldn’t cross her, if I were you. She’s powerful and cunning, more so even than many of the other Dukes I’ve met. Best be wary.”

“Right.” Shizuo nodded, looking around at all the fields they passed as they walked. He could see other oni walking around the edges of the fences, some of them with clubs or other weapons in hand, their eyes narrowed cruelly at the hundreds of human souls wandering around. Shizuo watched as the souls tended to strange animals filling the fields, leading them around, brushing them off, bringing over food for them, filling up water tanks. It would’ve seemed like a regular ranch…if it weren’t for the terrifying, eight-foot-tall ogres watching over everything.

“Uh, thank you for taking me here.” Shizuo said aloud, turning back to Akabayashi as they finally stopped before a massive fenced-in area marked with a sign reading “SOUTHERN FIELD”.

“No problem.” Akabayashi grinned, twirling his cane in one hand. “I’ll see you on your lunch break when I return here to check on you. Do tell me then if you’ve experienced any problems.”

“I will.” Shizuo nodded, glancing at the field to spot the various oni peppered around its edges. “I might ask some of them for help, but I think I can manage until lunch now.”

As his eyes scanned over the oni walking around, just trying to make sure he didn’t recognize any of them from the Customs incident, his eyes landed on a face he definitely remembered, but was shocked to see in a place like this.

“What the hell?” Shizuo gawked, his golden eyes locked on the human-like figure standing proudly in the field just a short distance away. “Is that… _Amon_?!”

“Wait, Amon?” Akabayashi’s grin dropped instantly into a frown, the oni scowling as he scanned the fields with Shizuo. “What in Lucifer’s name is _he_ doing here?”

“And it’s good to see you too, Akabayashi.” A cheerful voice rang out, an explosion of red smoke going off before the two onis’ feet as the human-like demon suddenly appeared before them.

Akabayashi growled instantly, his hands tightening on his cane as his muscles bulged threateningly. Shizuo could see the slim-fitting suit on his guide straining at its edges, the fabric looking like it was about to burst as the red-haired demon snarled at Amon.

“What are you _doing_ , sir?” Akabayashi managed to get out, eyes flashing dangerously at the much smaller demon. “You shouldn’t be in a place like this.”

“Unlike you, Akabayashi,” Amon said smoothly, showing off his canine teeth in a wide grin. “I can go wherever I like, whenever I’d like to. I’m a Marquis, after all.”

His dark-brown eyes glittered as they flicked over to Shizuo next, the orbs looking Shizuo’s new form up and down.

“I’ve done a rather nice job, if I do say so myself.” Amon sniffed proudly, nodding at Shizuo in approval. “Even _I_ wouldn’t be able to tell you’re actually a human.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.” Shizuo growled, not knowing why Amon’s appearance here at his new job was making him so on edge. Maybe it was just Akabayashi’s reaction to him, but Shizuo got the feeling somehow that Amon definitely shouldn’t be here.

And since he was here, he definitely wasn’t up to any good.

“What do you want, Amon?” Akabayashi asked again, dropping the sir formality as he stood in front of Shizuo defensively. “I get that you still pine after Izaya every now and again, but don’t you think following his client to work is clingy? Even for you?”

“Who said I followed him?” Amon demanded, crossing his arms with a scowl. “I simply figured out where my dear Izaya would’ve tried to place such an inexperienced oni and got here first.” He pointed a harsh finger at Akabayashi now, the confident pride from before now melted chaotically into anger. “And it is _not_ clingy.” He hissed, feathery hair ruffling at the thought. “It’s harmless interest.”

“Harmless interest?” Akabayashi scoffed, rolling his eyes as his hands tightened even further on his cane. “Izaya has told me how often you show up at his usual spots, hoping to run into him. And now you’ve not only inserted yourself as the main transformation operative in his new client job, but you’re stalking his client as well.”

Akabayashi glanced over his shoulder at Shizuo, his sunglasses still blocking out most of his eyes, but doing nothing to hide the rage lining the rest of his face.

“Shizuo doesn’t need you butting into his first day on the job.” Akabayashi said next, staring at Shizuo for a few seconds before turning back to face Amon. “Get lost, sir. A Marquis shouldn’t be stooping to this level.”

Here, Akabayashi paused, raising an eyebrow slightly at the demon before him. “Unless of course, your clinginess is due to your level.” He said smoothly, frowning at the canine-fanged man. “Perhaps you’re still latching onto Izaya because of status? I wouldn’t put it past you.”

“I’m doing no such thing!” Amon fairly bristling with rage at the accusation, his hair completely standing on end now as a deep glow surrounded his body frame. Shizuo watched in shock as Amon’s fangs started to lengthen, the claws on his fingers thickening and becoming unnervingly dagger-like as he hissed at Akabayashi. Dark spots began to sprout over Amon’s face, almost feather-like in appearance as they stretched over the pale skin.

A feeling of irrational fear gripped Shizuo’s heart as Amon’s human features contorted with fury and magic, the blonde taking an unwitting step back as the bloody glow around Amon increased.

Even Akabayashi took a few steps back, the oni gritting his teeth as a single bead of sweat dripped down the side of his head.

Amon seemed to notice what he was doing and coughed loudly, the glow diminishing instantly. His writhing features began to settle again, hair lowering back down over his neck as his fangs and claws shrank to a natural size.

His appearance reverted to the humanoid version of himself again, the feathers on his face vanishing back into smooth skin as the Marquis coughed once more.

“I, er, apologize for my outburst.” Amon said calmly, brushing off his clothes as he gave Akabayashi a curt nod. “But I assure you, I am not hanging around Izaya for his status. I simply…miss him. A bit too much.”

Amon’s gaze flickered back to Shizuo again, the dark-brown eyes now filled with suspicion as though he wasn’t sure how much he should say around the disguised human.

Evidently, he decided he’d already said enough. With one more cough, Amon turned back to Akabayashi, his expression calm and confident once again. “Well, I’ve seen all I need to.” The Marquis announced, clasping his hands behind his back. “It seems my transformation spell is working beautifully. I’ll just be on my way now that I’ve checked it out.”

He gave them both curt nods, a spiral of red smoke beginning at his feet and rapidly engulfing the human-like demon.

In a few seconds, he was entirely hidden from sight, surrounded by the swirling curtain of red. Then, just as quickly as the smoke had begun, it vanished, taking Amon with it.

Shizuo stared at the place where the demon had been, wondering what exactly he’d just witnessed.

He turned to Akabayashi, intending to ask about what all that talk of status and clinginess had been about, but the red-haired demon was gone as well.

Shizuo was alone at the entrance to the southern field.

Shizuo gazed off into space for a few seconds, mind trying to process what was going on.

Akabayashi and Amon had clearly been talking about Izaya as though he had some kind of status. Some kind of power that Amon denied wanting to leech off of, even though Akabayashi thought it seemed plausible for him to do so.

But Izaya was only a customer service rep. A salesman. A cheap, broke human resources worker who lived in a one-room apartment with half of a kitchen and the world’s smallest bathroom. His bed was the most extravagant thing about his style of living, with half-decent black sheets that seemed like just about the only thing in his residence that didn’t come from a bargain bin. What kind of power or status could _Izaya_ possibly have?

And how could it be so impressive that it would make sense for a Marquis, one of the demon nobles, to leech off it?

Numbly, Shizuo began to stumble into the southern field, wandering towards one of the other oni he could see observing the humans within it. He knew he should be focusing on his job right now, especially since it was something he’d never done before and he couldn’t make a single mistake if he wanted Duke Gremory to leave his life intact.

But even though his body brought him on auto-pilot up to his co-worker, and his mouth managed to introduce himself and ask a few casual questions about working here, his mind was somewhere else entirely.

His mind was lost in the confusion of demonic nobles and status symbols. Of clingy exes and broke service reps. Of Izaya’s strange rules and secrecy and the powerful people he seemed to know.

Of the mess Shizuo was sure he’d unwittingly stumbled into by moving in with the mysterious, mischievous demon representative.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I say this a lot, but FINALLY we are getting to the good stuff and some of the mysteries surrounding Izaya. Does our wonderful, sassy, broke service rep actually have a bit of power up his sleeve?
> 
> Well, it's Izaya, so it's probably safe to assume he does. XD
> 
> Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! (Even though it was admittedly a much longer one than usual.) Thank you guys for sticking with me through the ride so far. I hope you're all having a great new year so far, despite all of the craziness going on in the world. See you next time! <3


	9. He Who Sups with the Devil Should Use a Long Spoon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! Wow, I have been unbelievably busy for the last couple of days, and today has been my first breath of fresh air in a while. It feels great! And just in time for the update, no less. (*^▽^*)
> 
> I hope you all enjoy the thickening plot of the story. Back in Izaya's perspective for this one!
> 
> See you all at the end of the chapter! <3

It was shocking to the point where Izaya truly believed his home of Hell had frozen over in some district.

Probably in Acedia. Nothing and no one moved there, so Izaya could honestly see enough lazy demons dropping into hibernation that they began to chill the air around them.

Yes, Acedia must be freezing over. Because there was no other reason that _Shiki_ would be letting him get off work early.

“Are you…sure?” Izaya asked for a second time, not even adding the formality of “sir” as he stared dumbly at the demon before him. “I mean, it’s barely past lunchtime. There’s still a string of clients who could potentially try to call in. And I’m the best rep we have! We’ll lose so many potential deals or extended contracts if I’m not here.”

“Yes, Izaya. I’m sure.” Shiki said without looking up from his paperwork, deep purple skin vibrant as always under the red lights of his office. “As hard as you may find it to believe, Orihara, HR _can_ survive without you for the rest of the day.”

Izaya sniffed at the comment, crossing his arms as his tail flicked in irritation. The dry retort stung his pride more than he cared to admit, but he got the feeling his boss wasn’t just sending him away on such short notice without a much better reason than taking a jab at Izaya.

“Why?” Izaya demanded, red eyes narrowing as he continued to stare at Shiki’s lowered head. “You’ve never given me an early break from work since I started here. Not even when I asked for one after literally coughing up blood in the staff room. You said, and I quote,” Izaya held up his fingers in the air to make quotes for emphasis. “‘Your soul and all your free time belong to me’. Why the sudden change of heart?”

“I feel charitable today.” Shiki said flatly, finally looking up to glare right back at Izaya. “But your persistent, annoying nature is rapidly making that feeling vanish.”

“Good. Maybe when it’s gone, you’ll tell me why you’re trying so hard to get me to leave.” Izaya snapped in response, unyielding as he glared his boss down. “I just want an honest answer. Did someone from the department complain about me? Is someone important coming over? You know I can behave if I have to, right? I-”

“Izaya, stop arguing with me about this.” Shiki interrupted with a sigh, dropping the honorific of using Izaya’s last name entirely as he pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes squeezing shut. The iconic white suit he always wore crinkled with the motion, drawing Izaya’s eyes to the way it pulled taut over the front of his chest.

Izaya frowned as he stared at the spotless fabric, eyes landing instantly on the right breast pocket of the suit in which Shiki always kept his cell phone. He insisted on keeping it there, claiming it was for easy access, and so that no pocket on his suit would go wasted.

But right now…his phone wasn’t in that pocket.

Izaya’s eyes immediately dropped to Shiki’s desk, honing in on the small black device position right by Shiki’s free hand. His fingers were twitching every now and then towards its face, a series of notifications lit up on the screen that the demon had yet to respond to.

But Izaya didn’t need him to open the phone and check them to know what they were. There was only one person who could interrupt Shiki like this at work, and whose updates would actually make Shiki take his phone out and leave it on the table to observe constantly.

And that person had been on a very specific task this morning, with only so many things he could update Shiki about.

And only so many updates would make Shiki send Izaya away like this.

“I see. Amon showed up at Heiwajima-san’s work shift this morning.” Izaya said calmly, eyes moving back to the shocked face of Shiki.

The white-suited demon instantly tried to conceal his reaction to Izaya’s deduction, but it was too late.

“Unbelievable.” Izaya sighed in frustration, leaning away from Shiki’s desk and staring at the ceiling of the office. “What does he _want_? It’s beyond creepy at this point.”

“Which is why I want you to go home.” Shiki decided to give up on pretending, steepling his fingers before himself and facing Izaya with a stern glare. “He may be coming here now that he’s seen you aren’t taking Heiwajima-san to his work yourself. He’s clearly trying to run into you, and the last time you two ran into each other in this office, half the west wing was destroyed.”

“That wasn’t my fault.” Izaya protested, pouting at Shiki. “ _He_ was the one who got too angry and used a destruction aura!”

“And he only got too angry because _you_ were being difficult.” Shiki shot back instantly, completely unmoved by Izaya’s excuse. “Izaya, you wouldn’t even own up to who you really were. It was understandable for a chaos demon like him to grow so frustrated with your stubbornness so quickly.”

“How can you expect me to own up to that? In front of all my co-workers?” Izaya demanded, beginning to grow a bit frustrated himself now as he waved his arms in the air. “There’s a reason I’m working here besides how much I like it, Shiki. And that’s anonymity!”

“I understand, but in such a situation, where others’ lives are at stake,” Shiki said gravely, trapping Izaya in a harsh glare. “I think your ‘anonymity’ can be sacrificed to soothe a noble’s temper.”

“Easy for you to say.” Izaya growled, crossing his arms again and looking away. “You’re not the one whose life would be upended if the truth got out.”

Shiki said nothing in response to that, finally conceding a point to Izaya with his stoic silence.

In that silence, Izaya could only feel himself growing even angrier. At Shiki for not treating his privacy with respect. At Amon for continuously poking his head into Izaya’s business, trying to pull him into a life he didn’t want. At his so-called “father” and all those other idiots that had been trying to pull him into it for centuries now.

He just wanted everyone to get off his case and leave him alone.

…Maybe he was going to have to use Shizuo earlier than he’d thought.

“Izaya,” Shiki finally said aloud, drawing Izaya’s attention back to the white-suited demon now reclining in his office chair. He looked at Izaya with unusually gentle eyes, concern brimming just below the surface of the deep orbs. “Just go home early for the day, alright? That way, we can avoid any altercations with Amon.”

“I don’t see why I should have to change my lifestyle because he can’t let go of a quick fling.” Izaya grumbled, still not satisfied even though he could hear the finality in Shiki’s tone.

“For Amon, it was more than a quick fling. And you know it.” Shiki said sternly, the softness fading instantly from his face as his glare resumed. “He thought he was special to you, Izaya. He thought he was going to be the one to change you. And he can’t let go of that.”

“ _No one_ is ever going to change me. I don’t _need_ to be changed.” Izaya snapped, fists clenching at his sides as he spun on his heel, facing the door to Shiki’s office. “And his thinking that I do is the very reason he isn’t special to me anymore.”

“Enjoy your time off.” Shiki said dryly, the conversation evidently over in his mind as the sound of the demon relaxing into his chair filled Izaya’s ears. Izaya was also aware of the dull thumping sound of the phone sliding back into Shiki’s breast pocket, his concern over the matter completely gone now.

He knew Izaya was going home now. That was the end of the story for him.

Arrogant asshole.

Izaya didn’t bother to dignify Shiki’s comment with a response, storming out of the office and towards his cubicle again without a single look back.

He packed up his things and re-organized his cubicle so it’d be ready for his next shift, fuming silently as he grabbed his wallet and phone to head back home. He refused to take any materials from work with him. If Shiki thought better of his decision and asked Izaya to work from home, he could just bear with the consequences of his actions.

Izaya really _would_ take the rest of the day off, if that was what his almighty boss wanted so badly.

Just because of Amon! Amon showing up at Shizuo’s job, no less.

“He makes everything difficult.” Izaya snarled, shoving his hands in his pockets so his curling claws wouldn’t be gleaming for everyone to see as he stalked towards the building elevator. A few of his co-workers eyed him curiously as he began to march out, but the furious look on his face had their gazes sliding past him as they hurried back to their own work.

It was definitely for the better.

Izaya was so not in a mood for interacting right now.

_“If a reporter or some other paparazzi idiot stops me on my way home, I might just blast their head off.”_ Izaya thought to himself as he stepped into the elevator, smashing the button for the ground floor as he glared at his feet. Amon was a bad enough reminder of the life he was trying to avoid, and having those blood-sucking mosquitos buzzing around him, trying to stick their noses into his business, was way too much.

The thought of Amon now swirled into Izaya’s mind again, the dog-fanged demon’s grin blatantly overlaying all of Izaya’s other issues.

He clenched his fists even tighter, shoving them back in his pockets as he scowled at the mental picture.

Of all the people he’d dated in the past, Amon had easily been the most annoying. The one that stuck in his head the longest after their break-up, and certainly the one that had been causing him the most problems since.

He was, without a doubt, Izaya’s worst break-up.

Amon’s laugh rang in Izaya’s ears as the elevator doors opened and the infuriated demon stalked out, past the confused HR receptionist and out into the red world of Hell.

He almost wanted to storm all the way home instead of calling a taxi, but the chances that he’d run into someone who wanted to speak to him were too high that way. It was best to just splurge on a taxi, have some random harpy take him home, and be done with civilization for the day.

“All because of Amon.” Izaya growled again, pulling his phone out to dial up the taxi service angrily. “Amon and his stupid, insistent stalking. Always going wherever he pleases. Always following me around. Always trying to get me to change my mind. Well, I’m not going to!”

_“Not even for him.”_ A tiny voice added in Izaya’s mind, his heart squeezing slightly in his chest as he raised the phone to his ear. Izaya quickly squashed the feeling though, gritting his teeth as he focused on the chirping voice on the other end.

He ordered his taxi as quickly as he could, asking that the harpy be sent as soon as possible, then hung up, rage not abetted in the slightest as he hung around the front of HR.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for the harpy to show up. Even more thankfully, the harpy was a married woman who didn’t try to flirt with Izaya as she snatched him off the ground and carried him off to his apartment. He simply paid her when they arrived and she took off, leaving Izaya to walk down the street to his complex and sweep up the stairs, slamming open the door to his apartment with a little more force than was necessary.

Things started to go downhill a little, however, when he stalked to the bedroom, thinking he’d try to take a nap or something to get his mind off the rage rushing through it.

Because as soon as he entered the room, a horridly unpleasant smell hit his nose, nearly making Izaya gag as he recoiled from the unexpected shock. Pinching his nose tightly shut, Izaya’s eyes raked immediately over the room, trying to find the evidence of his “surprise” for Shizuo that morning which had clearly been left somewhere.

Shizuo’s sheets had been stripped from his bed, though, running in the communal laundromat downstairs thanks to the cleaning service Izaya had ordered that morning after they’d left the apartment. And the floor around his bed was clean, too, just like Izaya had asked.

So where was the smell coming from?

When Izaya’s eyes landed on his own bed, and they saw the disgusting, green goo all over his sheets, the cleaning service’s hesitant questions about whether he was sure he didn’t want _both_ beds cleaned finally made sense.

“That…bitch.” Izaya hissed under his breath, staring in disbelief at the green gunk that Shizuo had no doubt left there for him.

And in that single moment, Izaya ran a quick calculation in his mind of everything that was remaining in his household budget.

All the money he had set aside for groceries. All the savings he had in case the complex was destroyed and he had to find somewhere else to live. The tiny amount he’d built up for the new desk he’d been thinking about buying.

He calculated it all, compiled it into one sum, and made a very quick decision.

“I can afford to buy another bed.” Izaya said flatly, lifting his hand in the air to point at the disgusting mess.

He let all of his compounding rage from the day build up in his chest for an instant, a single instant where hot fury burned like a supernova beside his heart, then flung his hand outwards at the bed.

A crimson blast of flame shot instantly from his fingertips, roaring with the power of a rampaging oni as it completely engulfed the black bed.

The meltingly hot blaze only lasted for a few seconds, just a few seconds as Izaya poured all of his stress, rage, and irritation into one blow, snarling viciously at the unfortunate bed as its figure seemed to wilt away within the flames.

Then Izaya flung his hand abruptly away, letting out a deep sigh as smoke trailed from his fingers, and the flames vanished into thin air.

Only a few puffs of smoke filled the room now, puffs Izaya tiredly got rid of by stumbling over to the window and cracking it open just the slightest bit, letting the wind from outside suck them away.

Then he glanced over his shoulder at the place where his bed had been, eying his work ruefully.

Even when he was angry, it seemed, his magic was still incredibly precise.

Not a single scorch mark rested on the apartment walls. Not a hair was out of place for all of the books and papers he’d had resting right beside the bed. Only a few piles of ash remained where the bed had been, quietly resting on an untouched wooden floor as though someone had swapped the bed out for some of the black powder.

Izaya relaxed a bit on seeing the evidence of his ability, a slight smile quirking over his lips despite himself.

“Look at me. I’ve still got it even after a couple centuries of customer service.” He huffed proudly, walking off into the house to grab a dustpan and brush. He cleaned up the ash with a few smart strokes, dumping the evidence of his little tantrum into the trash can before putting all the cleaning supplies away.

Walking back into the bedroom, Izaya gave a little sigh again, ruefully staring at the place where his bed had been.

“Well.” He finally said aloud, crossing his arms with a frown. “I was getting bored of those sheets, anyway.”

Still, with the emotional exhaustion of the day still weighing over him and the explosive spell he’d just cast now adding slight physical exhaustion to the mix, Izaya wanted to nap more than ever.

He glanced over at the remaining mattress in the room, still sheetless from the cleaning service’s efforts (he should probably go down and get those soon), but looking ever so tempting nonetheless.

“He won’t be home for a while.” Izaya eventually reasoned aloud, walking towards the mattress and plopping down without a second thought. “And even if he does catch me here, what’s he gonna do? Yell at me for sleeping on the mattress _I_ gave him?”

Doubts assuaged, Izaya gave a single nod before closing his eyes, horned head sinking into the pillow at the mattress’s edge, body resting limply on the rest of the slightly-hard surface.

After a few minutes of counting his own breaths, the demon rep working valiantly to keep his mind from wandering back to the annoying thoughts of earlier, sleep finally crashed down over him. And with a light, contented sigh, he let it carry him away into blissful darkness.

***

“Is there a reason you’re in my bed?” The irritated, booming voice rang in Izaya’s ears, pulling him from the dreamless sleep he’d fallen into.

Izaya sluggishly rolled onto his back with a low, incoherent mutter, rubbing tiredly at his red eyes before squinting up at the figure who’d awoken him. The handsome, glaring face didn’t register in Izaya’s brain for a few seconds, until he saw the brightly bleached hair sitting atop its head.

Then the memories of the day and the realization of the situation he must now be in came rushing towards him, his red eyes widening slightly as he stared up at the irritated human by the mattress.

“Shizu-chan!” He chirped instantly instead of responding, grinning as he laced his hands behind his head and relaxed back into the mattress again. “You’re home! Welcome, welcome.”

“Thanks.” Shizuo said dryly, clearly not amused by Izaya’s avoidance as he pointed accusingly at the demon’s lounging body. “My bed. Why are you in it?”

“It’s a mattress, dear Shizu-chan. Not a bed.” Izaya only responded casually, still not moving as he grinned up at his human. “I wasn’t aware your pitiful education was lacking _that_ badly. Why, it’s almost enough to make me cry. Poor, stupid thing that you are.”

“Just get off.” Shizuo snapped angrily, throwing a black bag (probably something he’d received at work) on the floor and clenching his fists at his sides. “I’m tired. I’ve been staring at human souls all day, chasing down idiots who tried to escape, and beating them up with my co-workers. Which, by the way, I do _not_ feel good about.”

He crossed his arms now, giving Izaya a firm glare similar to the one he’d gotten from Shiki earlier, only more pissed-off.

“So move. Let me take a nap.”

“You know, _I_ had a pretty exhausting day, too.” Izaya glanced at the nails on his hand, pretending to check them over to rile the blonde up even further. “And my bed’s missing, or haven’t you noticed? This is the only place I can rest my pretty head now.”

“I could care less what freaky demon things you’ve done with your bed. I just want mine back.” Shizuo growled, fingers digging into his arms. “If you lost yours, too bad. You can’t use mine.”

“Technically, they’re both mine.” Izaya reminded him, still fake-checking his nails. “You’re merely a freeloader.”

“Whatever! Why are you being so difficult?” Shizuo threw his head back in frustration, keeping his cool admirably well despite Izaya’s taunts. “Just let me nap. If you’ve been home long enough to take a nap of your own, you should give me a turn.”

Shizuo paused at that statement, now looking down at Izaya a little suspiciously. “Actually, come to think of it, didn’t you say you were supposed to get home after me?” He asked, golden eyes narrowed. “Why are you here already?”

“Got sent home early. Tragic, I know.” Izaya sighed dramatically, flinging an arm over his eyes and still refusing to budge an inch from the mattress. “My boss freaked over your little run-in with Amon today and decided I shouldn’t be at the office in case Mister Doesn’t-Know-When-To-Quit came knocking.”

He expected Shizuo to ask how he knew about Amon, waiting for the chance to gloat his knowledge over the pitiful human with almost childish glee, but only silence dragged on between them.

Izaya’s tail flicked slowly in the air off the side of the mattress, a little bit of confusion filtering into Izaya’s body as he waited for Shizuo’s response. Why wasn’t he saying anything? Was he so impressed that he was completely lost for words?

“Shizu-chan? Did I break your pea-sized brain?” Izaya asked curiously, lowering his arm to peer up at the human.

Shizuo was just watching him now, an unreadable look on his face in place of the complete frustration that had been there earlier.

Izaya stared at him for a few seconds, their eyes locking in the silent space of the bedroom as the confused demon tried to analyze the blank expression on his human’s face.

He opened his mouth to speak again, to ask some question that might spark a response from Shizuo, but the blonde turned away before he could, walking instantly of the room.

Dumbfounded, Izaya stared at the entrance to the bedroom, slowly sitting up on the mattress so he could stare at it more effectively.

What was going on? Why was Shizuo acting so strangely?

In all two days Izaya had personally known him, the blonde had shown himself to have quite the short fuse, with a temper that went off at the drop of a hat. This weird self-control was not something Izaya had pegged the human to have.

He could hear the human muttering from somewhere in the house, and a few clanging sounds that sounded disturbingly like they were coming from the kitchen, but he was still too baffled to move from the mattress.

And soon enough, maybe fifteen minutes after Shizuo had initially left the room, he returned, bearing a small white bowl filled with a creamy, steaming liquid. A spoon was settled in the thick liquid, having sunk deeply among small blackish chunks and other unidentifiable pieces of food within the concoction.

Shizuo squatted down beside Izaya, almost eye-level with him now, and slowly handed the steaming bowl over to him.

“I found a can of soup in your panty that’s not expired.” The blonde said gruffly, locking eyes with Izaya again. “Heated it up on the stove. It’s called ‘Cream of Acedian Ox’. I hope you don’t hate it.”

Izaya stared at the blonde uncomprehendingly for a few seconds, then looked down at the soup. It did indeed look like one of those heated up cans of soup that Izaya kept stocked in the far back of his pantry for rainy days when he didn’t feel like cooking. The black bits were now more recognizable as pieces of ox, and the other floating vegetables in the thick liquid were also markedly less suspect.

“I don’t hate it.” Izaya finally managed to say aloud, still staring at the soup. “But I usually save it for sick days or lazy days.”

“Perfect. Have some now.” Shizuo grunted, shoving the hot soup even closer to him.

Slowly, Izaya’s hands lifted into the air, meeting the blonde’s briefly as he took the bowl from him. Setting the warm bowl on his lap, Izaya stared at it for a few more seconds, then slowly looked back up at Shizuo.

“Why did you make me soup?” He asked bluntly, still unable to piece together a reason for the blonde’s behavior, even taking into account all the studies he’d done of human behavior in the past.

“You had to leave work early.” Shizuo said simply, now settling down onto the floor, cross-legged, beside the mattress. He tilted his head slightly to look up at Izaya, his face almost unrecognizably calm as his golden eyes met Izaya’s red ones. “I know how much you love work, Izaya. You literally keep working even as you eat breakfast. And you’ve mentioned several times how good you are at your job, like you’re really proud of it.”

The blonde shrugged, poking at the mattress slightly as he sat there. “I figured that if you had to leave work early, then you’re probably more upset than you’re letting on.” The blonde finished, not looking away from Izaya’s gaze. “Add that to whatever stress you’re feeling from Amon butting into your life again and I’d say you’ve had a pretty shitty day. The least I can do is heat up some soup for you.”

Now…Now Izaya had no idea what to say.

He directed his eyes at the soup bowl again, trying to read a hidden message in the pieces of meat and floating vegetables. Trying to discern the lie in the thick, tan cream swirling slowly before him. It just didn’t make sense.

After all the crap Izaya had pulled on Shizuo that day – from waking him up with a bucket of sludge to stealing his mattress when he got home – the human was still showing him…kindness.

For no other reason than somehow, in the forty-eight hours they’d been living together, he’d picked up on enough about Izaya to realize how upset the demon really was.

Were all humans like this? Really?

“…It’s a good thing I decided to live with one.” Izaya mumbled to himself, pushing his spoon around in his soup. “I’m clearly missing something from all the books and articles I’ve read.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about and I don’t care.” Shizuo said flatly, sliding his hand beneath the bowl and gently pushing up to raise it closer to Izaya’s face. “Eat. You can have the mattress tonight too since your bed is gone.”

“Stop being nice. I don’t know how to process it.” Izaya said numbly, hand moving to grip the spoon and shovel the first bite of soup into his mouth.

Shizuo snorted softly at the comment, his hand falling away from the bowl as the blonde himself fell into silence, his golden eyes simply observing Izaya as he ate.

Once he was apparently convinced that Izaya was going to keep eating, he finally climbed to his feet, looking around the bedroom with a frown.

“I guess I’ll have to figure out where _I’m_ going to sleep for now.” He muttered to himself, staring at the spotless opening on the wooden floor where Izaya’s bed had been. “Wood’s not so bad once you get used to it, I suppose.”

He stretched his arms high over his head, arms popping with the motion as the human sighed. “But I’m taking a shower first. Transforming from an oni back into a human after working all day has done a number on me.”

“Have fun.” Izaya said dully, unable to muster anything sassier than that as he took another bite of soup.

“Sure.” Shizuo responded with a sigh, checking Izaya one more time before grabbing some clothes from the duffel bag at the head of the mattress then wandering out of the room.

Izaya continued to eat his soup for a while after that, listening to the sound of the water blasting from the bathroom. When he finished the entire bowl, setting it down on his lap again, Shizuo came stumbling back into the room, drying off his hair with a towel as soft pajamas hung off his body.

Wordlessly, he draped the towel over one arm and grabbed the bowl from Izaya, taking it out to the kitchen.

Izaya listened now to the water from the sink as his human washed the bowl out and set it aside to dry, his footsteps padding back to the bathroom so he could hang the towel up again.

Then, at long last, Shizuo walked back into the bedroom, Izaya hyper-aware of every move the incomprehensible human was making as he plopped down onto the wooden floor.

Izaya stared at the blonde a while longer, watching him shift uncomfortably on the floor for a few minutes before heaving out a low sigh, shoulders slumping as sleep overtook him.

The blonde still hadn’t eaten dinner yet, a meal Izaya had promised to make for him every night. But he wasn’t complaining. He was just skipping it and going straight to bed for the night. To make…less work for Izaya.

Why was he so kind? For no good reason at all?

Izaya shook his head to get rid of the confusion blossoming in it, settling back down onto the mattress and staring at the ceiling. Darkness from outside was creeping in all around now, seeping through the window and drenching the room as Superbia began to settle for the night.

It was probably a good time to go to bed.

Izaya closed his eyes, resting atop the bare mattress as Shizuo began to snore softly from the floor off to his side.

He’d need to pick up the sheets first thing tomorrow so that the mattress could be made into a proper bed again. And probably look at getting a replacement bed of his own with the meager money he could scrape together.

If Shiki was allowing him back at work again tomorrow, he’d have to fit those in either before he left the apartment or just delay them until he came back in the evening. Shizuo probably wouldn’t mind having his sheets down there for a while longer, and the rest of the apartment complex residents never did their laundry except on weekends, anyway.

Yes, Izaya had a few things to get done tomorrow. Which was totally fine. He could handle that.

As long as Shizuo didn’t throw another curveball at him like he had today. And as long as Amon didn’t toss a wrench in his plans, either.

Shizuo and Amon. They were two chaotic, unpredictable presences in Izaya’s life. And while Izaya loved seeing the unpredictability in the world around him, particularly around humans, he hated it when things didn’t go according to his plans.

He hated the uncertainty, the confusion, and the turbulence that both of these men were throwing at him.

But he had to admit…Shizuo’s kind of turbulence felt at least somewhat…nice.

Izaya nestled down into the mattress as best he could, ignoring the soft, warm feeling bubbling in his chest as he listened to Shizuo’s low snores. The constant rumbling of the blonde’s breath became a soothing sound in the back of Izaya’s mind, something he could let his mind attach to instead of making himself count his own breaths like he usually did.

The dull, repetitive snores lulled him to sleep, the demon’s body slowly slumping back down in its second session of rest for the day. And as Izaya drifted away into sleep, his consciousness melting into the black, he realized he couldn’t remember the last time he’d fallen asleep feeling so content.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes. We're inching deeper into the plot of the story, bit by bit. And figuring out more about who Izaya really is. I think I'll be able to keep a handle on this one and not let it dip into a crazy dark territory like I usually do, but we'll just have to see lol.
> 
> On an unrelated note, I'll probably have that exciting announcement that I mentioned before for the next update of this story. I can't wait to share with you guys!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this update of "Heart of Hell". I'll see you guys next time! <3


	10. A Cold Day in Hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooooo everybody! It's so wonderful to see you all again, and this time, we're _finally_ getting started on answering some of the questions you all have been asking (and some you haven't been asking) about Izaya, Hell, and what's really going on here.
> 
> Hope you all enjoy the chapter! See you at the end! <3
> 
> EDIT: Also, totally forgot - I have a super cool announcement to make to you guys that I'm putting at the end of the chapter! I might plug it again in a later chapter, but for now, I'll only put it at the end comment! :D

“I think you could stand to be a bit more appreciative of my cooking.”

“It _literally_ looks like some unknown animal crawled in there and died.”

“Because one _did_ , Shizu-chan. That’s where meat comes from!~”

Izaya barely managed to stifle his giggle as Shizuo’s face contorted instantly, the blonde clutching his stomach like he was going to be sick as he turned away from the pot on the stove.

“Please stop reminding me that I don’t even know what I’m eating half the time I shove it in my face.” He grimaced, looking a little pastier than usual as he stumbled out of the small kitchen. “Just make breakfast, then. I give up. I’ll eat anything.”

“Of course, dearest!” Izaya sang happily, turning back to the stove in triumph and snickering as he stirred the stew before him. “Breakfast will be ready soon!”

He got a low grunt in response, the familiar sound of the blonde plopping back onto his mattress hitting his ears from the kitchen.

And yes, it was a pretty familiar sound now. Izaya had been too stingy to buy a new bed after the whole incineration incident, so for about two weeks, Shizuo had been relegated to sleeping on the floor in the apartment. When they'd neared week three, and Shizuo started walking with noticeable stiffness from sleeping on a wooden floor, Izaya finally caved and allowed the blonde to share the mattress with him.

Izaya had expected some awkwardness with the sleeping arrangement - maybe an "accidental" grope or two from either of them - but it had been a surprisingly easy transition. Shizuo usually plopped down in relief and gratitude first (hence the now-familiar sound of his body falling on the mattress) and got comfortable while Izaya waited. Once he was ready, Izaya climbed a bit more delicately onto the mattress, taking up whatever tiny space was left over on either side of his human, letting his limbs and tail drape over Shizuo's unexpectedly warm body.

Izaya was usually a light sleeper, but Shizuo slept like a dead man, barely even twitching once he'd conked out for the night, so Izaya had discovered that sleeping with Shizuo was no different than curling up with a heated, body-shaped pillow. It was actually a little comforting, having this constant bed-warmer nearby to help lull Izaya into sleep faster than he'd ever thought possible. And Shizuo's snores were practically a white noise machine all on their own, providing a nice background drone to drown out Izaya's wild thoughts and calm him down for the night.

Yes, Izaya had admittedly played around with Shizuo's sleeping form before, sneaking a few glances beneath his shirt now and then, but it was mostly just...peaceful cuddling. Even when the two of them went to bed pissed at each other, things settled down with this lull of peace as soon as their bodies made contact. And actually, at this point where it had finally been one month since Shizuo had come to Hell to live among demons, their whole lifestyle together was shockingly peaceful.

Every morning, they left for work together, Shizuo transforming into an oni just outside the apartment. Akabayashi didn’t need to come take him to work anymore, so Shizuo just walked to the bus on his own and used his employee ID for rides. Izaya would walk him to the bus stop then wish him a good day as he left for the metropolitan area where his own work with HR was located, and they’d both spend the day at their respective jobs.

Things got more interesting when they both got off work, Shizuo having joined the oni yoga class Izaya recommended for him and Izaya delighting in coming to watch. Nami was less-than-thrilled to have Izaya poking his head into her “calming space” every day, but there was no way Izaya was missing his chance to both annoy her and ogle Shizuo’s oni form in tights.

Life was too precious to waste these moments.

After the daily yoga classes, Izaya and Shizuo usually strolled around Superbia for a bit, finding small restaurants to try or little shops to visit. Remarkably, walking around with a nearly nine-foot-tall oni was a pretty good deterrent for anyone who looked like they wanted to come up and bother Izaya. He’d made eye-contact with several people on these jaunts with cameras and press badges around their necks, each one watching him hungrily, but not a single demon had approached him for an interview.

Oh, sure, there were probably pictures of him and his new oni flying around a gossip magazine somewhere, but Izaya could care less.

Thanks to Shizuo, he actually got to walk around somewhat carefree, and experience an almost normal life.

And when they both finally came back to the apartment, and Izaya made dinner for the night, the two of them just ate in peace, took turns in the shower, and went straight to bed together. Every now and then, Izaya pulled a prank on Shizuo to test his patience, but it was mostly a set routine.

Izaya hummed as he stirred the stew, thinking about that as the dark liquid bubbled.

He usually hated set routines. He planned out his life to have some chaos here and there, to watch things fall into place through complicated plots and schemes that he crafted himself. He liked throwing in the unexpected, and watching it come around to a resolution he’d predicted.

It made his life fun, but completely manageable.

Shizuo, however, was flipping that on its head.

Shizuo reacted unexpectedly to just about anything Izaya threw at him. He was weirdly nice on one hand, listening carefully to any rant Izaya gave about his day, and remarkably short-tempered on the other, snapping into a rage monster if Izaya managed to set him off. Shizuo also liked simple, repeated things, like the schedule of going to yoga classes then hanging out for a bit each day, a creature of those dull routines Izaya despised. He was dull and simple where Izaya wanted to be chaotic and ever-changing, and he was turbulent and wild where Izaya wanted things to be orderly and sensical.

They were complete opposites, and having Shizuo in his life was making Izaya adapt to a lifestyle that he’d always assumed he would hate.

But for some reason…he didn’t mind it very much.

Izaya smiled and flicked off the stove, eying the bubbling soup before him with satisfaction. It looked like another wonderful breakfast to watch Shizuo try before work. This one was a triple-winged snake stew, with a dash of Acedia mushroom sauce. A normal human probably wouldn’t be able to take the spicy flavor that came with the snake meat, but Izaya had quickly learned Shizuo’s palette and stomach were two other inhuman things about him.

He’d probably love this.

“Breakfast’s ready!” Izaya chirped happily, ladling out some soup into two bowls and spinning happily towards the bedroom.

As he walked in, he could see Shizuo was already standing by the dresser, looking impatiently at Izaya as he brought food over.

“Finally. We’ll be late if we don’t leave soon, you know.” Shizuo grumbled as the soup was placed in front of him, his golden eyes squinting with the slightest suspicion at the meat poking out before he dipped a spoon in and took a massive bite. “Thank you for cooking.”

“Anything for my dear, dear Shizu-chan.” Izaya giggled, watching Shizuo with glittering eyes as the blonde scarfed down his meal. As expected, the venom didn’t seem to faze him.

Izaya’s tail dove into his back pocket to pull out his phone, the raven habitually scrolling through work messages and getting a head start on the day as he started on his own stew.

With Shizuo eating rapidly across from him, and the distant sounds of commuters and pedestrians floating in through the apartment window, Izaya felt almost at peace as he started another morning in Hell.

And of course, as soon as he acknowledged the feeling of peace, that’s when it was shattered.

“Izaya!! Care to explain what’s going on here?!”

Just the very sound of the voice shouting as the front door was kicked in brought Izaya’s day crashing down.

Because that was one part of Izaya's new lifestyle that was certainly not peaceful, and never really had been. And unfortunately, it constantly made appearances in Izaya's life. Even Shizuo wasn't shocked by it anymore.

“He’s back _again_?” Shizuo muttered, glancing disinterestedly at the entrance to the bedroom as he waited for the figure to appear. “Man, he just doesn’t know when to quit.”

“I wonder what he’s yelling about this time.” Izaya sighed in agreement, not even bothering to turn around as the blustering buffoon stormed into the bedroom behind him.

“Izaya!” Amon shouted, his voice filled with fury as it swept over Izaya’s ears. “Seriously, what do you think you’re doing?!”

“Amon, for the last time, I can’t read your mind.” Izaya muttered, already thinking of the last can of Fallen Angel he had tucked away in the back of the fridge. “You’re going to have to be more explicit about what’s gotten you so riled up. And then leave and stop coming to my apartment.”

“Stalking isn’t cool.” Shizuo added helpfully, slurping up another bite as he shot the dog-fanged demon a strict look over Izaya’s shoulder. “And I’m pretty sure it’s a crime, even in Hell.”

“I could care less about my long-overdue stalking conviction.” Amon snapped, finally barging right over to the dresser and slamming a magazine down in the space between Izaya and Shizuo’s bowls.

Izaya’s red eyes begrudgingly flicked up to look at the magazine cover, one of his eyebrows quirking up as he saw the headline.

“‘New Lover at his Side? Izaya’s Golden Oni Fling in this Crucial Time’.” The raven read aloud, snorted a little at the tagline’s end. “Well, they certainly took that and ran with it, didn’t they?”

“Wait what?” Shizuo frowned, peering more closely at the magazine cover himself. It very clearly depicted his oni form striding beside Izaya, the two of them eating small street foods together on one of their evening jaunts from a while back. “Why the hell am I being plastered on a magazine cover? And why is it talking about your latest fling?”

“Who knows? Maybe they’re doing specials on HR reps these days.” Izaya said breezily, grabbing the magazine off the dresser and shoving it back into Amon’s chest. “After all, I’m certainly no one important enough to be making front page news with my new lover.”

“Clearly you are.” Shizuo growled, a bit of suspicion creeping into his golden eyes as he glared at Izaya. “Izaya, what aren’t you telling me about this?”

“You mean you _still_ haven’t told him?” Amon demanded next, throwing himself back into the conversation as he looked at Izaya in bafflement. “He still thinks you’re just an HR rep?!”

“I _am_ just an HR rep.” Izaya said firmly, glaring up at Amon with fire in his eyes. This conversation was starting to go from mildly irritating to seriously inconvenient. “Leave it alone, Amon.”

Yes, even though a month had gone by since Shizuo had arrived, and he and Izaya had settled into a pretty normal routine, Izaya still hadn’t shared everything with the blonde. There was just no need to. He liked his life the way it had shaken out so far. He liked the way Shizuo was operating in it.

Yes, part of the reason he’d agreed to let Shizuo live with him was just in case he’d needed a cover for the old part of his life, but so far, he hadn’t.

Reporters hadn’t come bothering him about making a selection. He hadn’t heard from his stupid father in a while over the same thing. Even his brothers had left him alone. Izaya was free to do his own thing. Shizuo getting involved in all those idiotic politics wasn’t necessary.

And it still wasn’t, as far as Izaya was concerned.

“Get out of my apartment.” Izaya said coolly, pointing at the door as he glared at Amon. “You brought in your magazine. Guess what? Me and Shizu-chan aren’t actually a fling. You have all your answers, now go have a nice day.”

“Izaya, that’s not the problem here.” Amon scowled, practically flinging open the magazine cover and tearing through the pages to find the cover story. “Didn’t you read the last part of the title? The whole bit about a crucial time?”

“Yes, yes. Gossip magazines making things sound dramatic. How unexpected.” Izaya said dryly, finishing off the last of his stew and gathering his and Shizuo’s bowls. “Now leave before you bring up any more misunderstandings between me and my roommate.”

Shizuo’s suspicious look still hadn’t faded, the blonde eying the magazine silently as Amon flipped through it. It was clear the human wanted some answers. After all, he may be stupid, but even he wasn’t dense enough to brush past his roommate ending up on the front cover of a magazine.

If Amon actually dove into that article and read it out loud in front of Shizuo, who knows what Shizuo would hear about? Or what he’d _do_ after hearing it.

“Amon, I’m growing tired of this. Leave.” Izaya snapped, looking over his shoulder angrily as the canine-like demon continued to speed through the magazine. “I don’t want you bringing up anything unsavory in front of-”

“The Crown Games are back on!” Amon suddenly blurted, finally reaching the page he was looking for an holding it up to Izaya. “And you’re listed as this year’s defendant.”

With those words, everything in the room seemed to come to a standstill. The blood in Izaya’s veins froze, his whole body developing a strange chill as he stared at the magazine. His red eyes locked on the page Amon was holding open, that damned logo gleaming and glittering right at the top of it.

A big shiny crown, hovering over that cursed, horned apple.

And right below the logo, in equally gleaming letters, Izaya could clearly read his name.

“…Well.” Izaya breathed out, fingers turning white as he clenched the empty bowls even harder. “It looks like my dear old _Father_ really is done playing nice.”

“You took way too long to decide, Izaya.” Amon dropped the magazine, removing those horrible symbols from Izaya’s sight as his concerned, black eyes met Izaya’s. “His Highness couldn’t tell if you were genuinely going to ever make a selection. It’s been over two centuries! None of your brothers had ever taken that long.”

“None of my brothers had been in my situation.” Izaya said coldly, turning stoutly away from Amon. “You know, maybe this is a good thing. I can finally get out of this political game. Drop away from the public eye, just like I’ve always wanted.”

“You can’t be serious.” Amon sounded shocked as he followed Izaya into the kitchen. “Izaya, you can’t throw the Crown Game. His Highness will know you sabotaged yourself on purpose. The rules of the game are clear – you have to give your all. You’ll be executed if you don’t!”

“Maybe I lost my touch after two centuries of customer service.” Izaya said breezily, still not looking back at Amon as he began to wash his dishes. “Surely Father would realize that an elongated career change might have an effect on my abilities.”

“His Highness wouldn’t let you go that easily.” Amon scowled, fists clenching as he stood behind the stubborn raven. “Izaya, you still have the top-performing records on all but three of the Crown Game’s rounds. No one’s come close to beating you since your match. Even if you’d lost some of your touch, it’s not enough to get you out of this.”

Izaya ground his teeth together angrily, trying to steady his breathing as he carefully dried off the bowls and set them to the side.

“So?” He managed to get out in a semi-calm voice, slowly turning around to face Amon. “I don’t see why you’re concerned.”

“It’s the Crown Game, Izaya!” Amon blurted angrily, waving his hands in the air as his canine fangs flashed. “And you’re the defendant! You should be training right now! Not working on some side fling with this fake oni.”

“We’re not in a fling.” Shizuo said flatly, suddenly walking out from the bedroom and giving Izaya a deep frown. “Just housemates. But what the hell is all this about training for a game?”

“It’s nothing. I’m not going to be participating in the game.” Izaya said smoothly, examining his nails as Amon’s head snapped back to him in shock.

“You don’t have a _choice_ , Izaya!” Amon shouted next, wind beginning to whip around him as his body started to glow. “You have to stop wasting time on this human and get training! Take a few weeks off from work or something. The Crown Game is in a month and you have to prepare!”

“I’ll prepare when and if I feel like it!” Izaya snapped back, his own aura beginning to flare brightly as his tail slashed through the air behind him. “For now, I intend to take this straight to Father and demand he pull me as the defendant.”

“You’re unbelievable!” Amon roared, face contorting as his skin feathered and his fangs lengthened. “His Highness will never agree. You have to take this seriously, Izaya. No more running from your problems and your decisions!”

“Get out!” Izaya screamed, a pulsing wave like a heartbeat rocketing through the apartment in response.

Amon’s body was flung back, crashing into the doorframe as the chaos demon snarled angrily. He pushed himself back to his feet, feathery hair swirling around his head as he turned a murderous snarl on Izaya.

But as their eyes met across the apartment, Izaya could see the concern and the worry muddled in Amon’s black gaze. There was a hint of sadness there, too, tucked away behind the rage and the frustration.

A true chaos demon. He could never have simple reactions to things, or let Izaya have a simple reaction to him.

With a low sigh, Izaya felt all his anger leave his body, his aura abruptly vanishing as he leaned back against the kitchen counter and covered his eyes.

“Just leave, Amon.” Izaya said tiredly, refusing to look up at the dog-like demon. “I’m going to talk to Father about this and try to get out of it. If I can’t…then I’ll take your advice.”

Amon’s anger seemed to abet with that statement just like Izaya’s had, the wind finally settling down in the apartment as Amon’s face shifted back into its more humane form.

Amon looked sadly at Izaya, his hand lifting to land on the doorknob as he prepared to leave.

“…Alright then.” He said quietly, tucking the magazine away in his jacket. “Please let me know if you want any help. I’ll give you some training grounds and resources if you need them.”

“Thank you, Amon.” Izaya muttered, still looking at the ground instead of his ex. “Leave now.”

Amon only nodded at that, giving Shizuo a quick glance before slipping out of the apartment entirely.

Everything fell silent for a while as Amon’s footsteps padded away, the demon and his human left standing alone in the kitchen like they had earlier that morning.

Only now, the mood was decidedly different.

Izaya could feel Shizuo’s eyes on him, the blonde’s silence more telling of his demand for answers than any angry roar would be.

And after that fiasco with Amon, Izaya knew there was no way he’d be able to keep the answers from Shizuo much longer. Especially if now that sickening Crown Game was getting tied up to Shizuo’s oni form as Izaya’s “lover”. A reporter might get bold enough to stop Shizuo on the street and ask him questions about it, and Lucifer only knew how well that would go.

Unless he knew everything he needed to beforehand.

Izaya sighed again, blowing out a heavy breath as his hand finally lowered and he looked up to meet Shizuo’s eyes.

The golden gaze was piercing as always, and a little condemning as he waited for Izaya to explain himself. The clock was ticking away, and they really should have left for work over ten minutes ago, but Izaya was sure the look in Shizuo’s eyes meant he wasn’t concerned about being late anymore.

Izaya was going to have to fess up now, whether he wanted to or not.

“Let’s call in sick to our bosses today.” Izaya finally said, still meeting Shizuo’s eyes across the kitchen. “And I’ll give you a rundown on what’s really going on here in Hell.”

Izaya should’ve known his peace wouldn’t last that long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awww, everything was so happy and nice for a while at the start there.
> 
> Figures something had to come in and ruin it. Amon just makes a great plot device to ruin peaceful settings, doesn't he? He really works well as a chaos demon.
> 
> Well, in any case, IT'S HERE! The new exposition on Izaya's backstory! The truth about Hell! The identities of Izaya's father and brothers (and how Mairu and Kururi play into all this, if you still remember them from Chapter One)! All coming to a head now, and all to be explained very soon!
> 
> I hope you guys are as excited for the big reveals as I am. Hope to see you with the next chapter! <3
> 
> **EDIT: Also, here's my big new announcement: I have an original web novel online!** I've been posting a few chapters of it now for the past few weeks, and it's not very far along (though almost the entire story is planned out already!) but if you guys want to go check it out, that would really mean a lot to me!
> 
> You can find it here if you're interested: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/39792/eon
> 
> It also updates every Monday, so if for some reason, you want weekly doses of my writing, then you can find it there! Thanks for allowing me my shameless plug, haha.
> 
> See you later! <3


	11. Come Hell or High Water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness, I _nearly_ forgot to update today! Why is February so short, man? I was not prepared for it. XD In any case! Despite the somewhat late-in-the-day update, I hope you guys enjoy today's chapter!
> 
> We're finally getting into Izaya's backstory! 
> 
> See you at the end! <3

Shizuo wasn’t sure what he was expecting after he made the call to his (still-terrifying) boss and met Izaya in their room. The raven-haired demon was waiting for him on their mattress, legs crossed and head downcast as he stared at his feet.

He glanced up at Shizuo as the blonde walked in, face completely unreadable as he took a seat on the mattress across from Izaya.

The room was quiet for a while as the two men looked at each other, one of them silent and confused about what would happen next, the other unusually unwilling to fill the silence.

Eventually, though, Izaya heaved a low sigh, leaning back on his hands and staring at the ceiling above them.

“I’m not sure what I should start with, to be completely honest.” The demon mumbled, tail flicking slowly through the air behind his back. “I suppose a breakdown of politics would be fine.”

“Politics?” Shizuo repeated, his nose wrinkling at just the thought. “Why the hell is that relevant to anything that’s going on right now? Tell me about this stupid Crown Game instead, or why you’re on the cover of a magazine.”

“For you to understand that, you need to understand the politics of Hell.” Izaya sighed, not looking away from the ceiling as his sharp nails tapped dully on the mattress. “Don’t worry. It’ll make sense eventually, and it’s not like I’m giving you the whole history of political development down here. Just some basics.”

Shizuo frowned at that, still not quite seeing why a political lecture would be necessary in this situation. But he technically had the whole day off now, and there wasn’t anything else to do but listen to Izaya. If the demon thought political knowledge was necessary to understanding what was going on, it looked like he’d have to sit through it.

“…Fine.” Shizuo grumbled, shifting on the mattress so he’d at least be a bit more comfortable. “Tell me about your demon politics.”

“Nobles and royals.” The horned man said instantly, finally looking down to meet Shizuo’s gaze. “You know about them, right? Demons in Hell with noble titles or royal rankings?”

“Yeah, I’ve heard about them.” Shizuo nodded slowly, wondering if it would’ve even been possible _not_ to come across those while living in Hell.

His own boss was a Duke, after all, and Amon certainly wasted no breath whenever he showed up reminding them that he was a Marquis. Not to mention the old Hell pamphlet that talked about Princes running each of the main cities in Hell. Shizuo had gotten pretty used to the concept of demonic nobles in the month he’d been living here.

What Izaya had to do with all those nobles, however, remained to be seen.

“I know that they exist and that they’re on the more powerful end of demons here.” Shizuo continued aloud, making sure his eyes were locked with Izaya’s red ones as they spoke. “They’re usually in prestigious positions, too, like running cities or soul ranches. So almost like nobility is on Earth.”

“Almost.” Izaya agreed, humming as he looked Shizuo up and down. “Except nobility on Earth is usually hereditary, isn’t it? At least from my understanding, it seems that way.”

“It is.” Shizuo blinked at the statement, a little surprised by its implications. “Wait, so nobility in Hell _isn’t_ inherited?”

Izaya shook his head, laughing a little at the idea. “Are you kidding me? What kind of idiotic system would pass power like that into the hands of demons just because a certain brand of blood is running in their veins?” He snorted once to accentuate the point, leaning forward again to clasp his ankles as he grinned at Shizuo. “If any old demon could be born from a Duke or a Marquis, and have all the same rights as that noble by virtue of birth alone, Hell would be rampant with a bunch of lazy, spoiled, apathetic rich kids who’d run it into the ground.”

Shizuo winced at the statement, choosing not to reflect on the pointed look Izaya gave him with it that no doubt insinuated something about Earth’s political systems.

“Okay, it’s a dumb idea.” He managed to mutter, avoiding the demon’s red-eyed gaze now as he stared at the dresser in their room. “Down with hereditary power, and all that. But if it’s not passed down, how do demons in Hell decide who joins the nobility?”

“The Crown Game.” Izaya said simply, Shizuo’s head snapping back to him instantly. The horned man was smiling at him, tail curling and dancing in the air as he clung to his ankles like a child. “It’s a tournament to allow demons to bid for positions of power in the nobility by showing off their strength and cunning.”

He lifted a finger into the air, a small flame erupting from the tip of a perfect nail as he began to draw something in the air.

Shizuo watched in amazement as little streams of fire were left behind where Izaya’s finger had been, the demon’s artistic vision crackling with golden and scarlet flames in the air before them both.

When the raven was finally down with his artwork, Shizuo noticed that it looked like a strange sort of bracket, with different branches eventually migrating upwards to a single position at the top, split into several different levels in between.

“There are a few different titles you can gain through the Crown Game, by competing with other demons who’ve also entered.” Izaya explained, snapping his fingers to eradicate the flame from its tip. He gestured at the lowest level of the fire bracket he’d drawn, the one with the most slots open, it seemed.

“At the beginning level, everyone is fighting for a position called President, which is the lowest kind of demon title.” Izaya’s fingers seemed to flit over the flaming slots, his red eyes lost in the memory of whatever he was describing. “Presidents don’t do much – just report on the status of cities to the Princes – and there are hundreds of them. The top fifty demons from the bottom bracket get to be Presidents, and the top twenty-five demons move on to the second level to fight for a higher title.”

Shizuo watched as Izaya’s fingers moved up to the next level, one with considerably less slots drawn out, crackling in the silent apartment air.

“That higher title is an Earl. Earls get permission to go to Earth and scope out human souls or directly interact with humans and drag them down to Hell. They’re pretty busy, but they get huge penchants in exchange.”

Izaya’s eyes flickered to meet Shizuo’s through the fire bracket, the glowing flames reflecting unusually in the depths of red. “The top ten get to be Earls at this stage, and the top five move on to compete at the level afterwards.”

_“The competition gets thinned out pretty quick.”_ Shizuo marveled at the numbers as he glanced at the levels of the bracket. They were only on the second level, and were already down to the top five in the entire tournament. There were probably hundreds of demons who’d showed up at the start, weren’t there? The ones who managed to climb up the ranks must be unbelievably strong.

“The next stage is where those five demons compete for the tile of Marquis, like Amon.” Izaya said casually, Shizuo nearly choking on his shock when he heard that.

He gawked at Izaya and the demon laughed at his reaction, tail curling with a hint of delight as he pointed at a small level near the top of the drawing. “Yes, I know he doesn’t seem it, but Amon is quite a powerful demon. He boasts about his title of Marquis for good reason.” The raven hummed, tapping on one of the five, fiery slots burning in the air. “Only the top two get to claim the title of Marquis here, and the open preliminaries of the Crown Game conclude.”

“The open preliminaries?” Shizuo repeated, golden eyes widening. “What do you mean? The Game only _starts_ with all those competitions?”

“Those are the limitation-free positions of nobility.” Izaya said breezily, bringing back the flame on his finger – a blue one, this time – to draw a firm line between the five-slot bracket and the pyramid tip above it. “There can be any number of Presidents, Earls, and Marquises in Hell. They’re all basic managerial positions, mostly, with the Marquis being the only actual ruling position that gets to define laws for human sinners in Hell and rule over the humans as a nobility council. They don’t have much impact on the landscape of Hell or its ruling class as a whole, even though they grant exceptional privilege among regular demons.”

Izaya’s eyes flicked to the pyramid tip of his drawing, his blue-flamed finger drawing a slow circle around the ominous space on top.

“Once those positions are all snagged up, the two top demons get the chance to vie for a more coveted position, one that changes from year to year. One of the limited titles.”

“So a noble position where only a certain number of demons can hold it?” Shizuo asked aloud, eyes locked by the blue ring.

“Precisely.” Izaya said smoothly. “For example, positions as Dukes. There are only twenty-three Dukes of Hell, each governing demons in a specific district throughout the seven cities. We aren’t going to increase the number of districts in Hell so more demons can be Dukes, so it’s a limited position. The other two limited titles are Princes and Kings, which only allow for eight and nine positions each.”

“I thought Lucifer was the King of Hell.” Shizuo said dumbly before he could stop himself, frowning at Izaya in confusion.

Izaya laughed at the statement, a few tears coming to his eyes that he quickly wiped away with his free hand, the other still holding up a blue flame.

“Well, he _is_ the primary ruler.” Izaya snickered, grinning widely at Shizuo, his fangs glinting in the blue light from his finger. “But he’s more of a deity than a noble, you know? The Kings are his personal advisors who help him make Hell-wide decisions and policies. Princes run the cities for him based on those policies.”

“Oh. I see.” Shizuo scratched the back of his head, ignoring the mocking snickers emanating from the bratty demon before him. After a whole month of living with these sorts of outbursts at his expense, he’d grown kind of used to them.

“So then, why is there only one spot at the top?” He asked next, cutting off Izaya’s snickers as he pointed hesitatingly at the pyramid tip. “If there are multiple limited positions open?”

Izaya sobered up quickly at that question, a darker look passing over his eyes as he frowned at the circled tip. He lifted his finger towards it, drawing a simple letter “D” in the middle of the tip. “Because only one limited position goes up for grabs at each Crown Game.” Izaya said simply, extinguishing his blue flame and lowering his finger after he’d finished drawing. “A single noble among the forty limited title demons is selected, usually because they’ve been performing their duties poorly or they seem to be weakening. If they lose in battle to either of the two top demons at the tournament, they lose their title and a new demon takes it over.”

Izaya stared at the glowing “D” for a few seconds before dropping his gaze to fixate on Shizuo’s. “That noble is called the defendant.” He said simply. “Which is my position this year.”

That information hit Shizuo like a speeding bullet train.

For a few seconds, he just stared at Izaya, not comprehending exactly what that meant. Then it all came crashing down at once.

To be a defendant, Izaya had to be a limited title noble. In order to do that, he would’ve had to be a Duke, Prince, or King. In order to be one of _those_ , he would’ve had to win a Crown Game a long time ago and have beaten the previous holder of his title. In order to win a Crown Game, he would’ve needed to best hundreds of demons in battle and come out inexplicably on top.

Izaya was…Izaya was…

“You mean you’re a loaded member of nobility with insane power and you’re living in a dumpy, one-room apartment like a cheap college student with a part-time job?!” Shizuo roared, leaping to his feet off the mattress and glowering down at Izaya in pure fury. “Are you serious?! You’ve acted like you’re too broke to buy a god-damn bed for yourself! But you’re actually some kind of filthy rich power maniac?!”

“I am _not_ filthy rich!” Izaya snapped, crossing his arms with a huff as his tail spun irritably behind him. “I live on an HR rep’s salary alone, I’ll have you know. I don’t rake in any money from my limited title because I haven’t _done_ any of my duties for that title. So there!”

“That’s hardly better!” Shizuo scowled, glaring at the pouting demon in disbelief. “Have you just been shirking your responsibilities all along? How long have you been an HR rep? I think it was two hundred years. So two hundred _years_ ¸ and you haven’t _once_ done your real job?!”

“HR _is_ my real job!” Izaya yelled back in protest, fairly fuming now as his red eyes burned. “I never wanted the responsibilities of the other one! I made that abundantly clear after I took my title. I insisted that all I wanted was a decent salary with the ability to contact humans. I would’ve rather been an Earl!”

“Then why didn’t you stop at bracket two?” Shizuo demanded, gesturing at the still-burning drawing in the air. “Huh? Why the hell did you climb all the way to the top?!”

“Because it’s treason not to!” Izaya snarled, swiping his claws aggressively through the bracket and banishing the flames instantly. “Do you get that, Shizuo? I _had_ to fight to the best of my ability, and I’d overestimated the demons I was battling for the first bracket. I put on too much of a show and wiped out too many competitors in that round for them to believe me if I’d ended up losing after gaining the title of Earl. They would’ve known I was faking it and I would’ve been executed.”

Izaya stood up furiously from the mattress and began storming around the tiny bedroom, his tail whipping violently behind him as he paced back and forth. Shizuo could see the tension in his shoulders and the curl of a snarl creeping over his lips as he ranted, fangs elongating as his rage grew higher.

This was a sore subject for him, Shizuo realized as he watched the demon pace angrily. And it was something he definitely didn’t like to think about.

“I had to keep fighting through every bracket, giving it my all even though I’d _long_ passed any kind of position I’d actually wanted.” Izaya was continuing, eyes lost in the fury of his memory as he spun sharply on his heel. “And I made it all the way to the official Crown Game, past the preliminaries. I’d hoped the guy fighting with me would be able to take the defendant out before me and I could just live a semi-peaceful life as a Marquis, interacting with human souls even if they weren’t humans themselves.”

Izaya stopped and glared at Shizuo, pointing a harsh finger at him as though almost accusing him of ruining the demon’s life. “But was he able to do that? No! The defendant took him out in seconds. Seconds! And I had to fight her afterwards.”

Izaya scowled at the thought, shaking his head as he lowered his hand and continued marching. “It was a long fight, probably the longest and hardest of my life, and I could’ve gotten away with throwing the match then and there.”

He paused at that, fists clenching behind him as he glared at the floor. “But that self-righteous witch…she threatened me while we were battling. Said I’d insulted her by battling with her so long and making her look weak in front of her Father. She said that as soon as she won, she’d find which city me and my sisters were living in, and she’d make sure we’d never be able to set foot in civilization again. That we’d starve to death on the streets, wasting away for my arrogance.”

Izaya took a deep breath, calming himself down the slightest bit before turning to Shizuo once more. “I was able to defeat her after that.” He said simply, shrugged once with his words. “I wouldn’t let her touch me or my sisters. I was only fighting in that damn tournament to give us a better life in the first place. So I took her out…and took her title.”

Izaya laughed bitterly at that, crossing his arms and leaning back against the dresser. “Little does she know I’m far more miserable with it than I ever would’ve been living on the streets again.” He muttered, the truth in his words far too heavy for it to be a sarcastic joke. “Now I’m the eighth Prince of Hell, and I’m never supposed to be able to leave Hell. I need to serve my ‘people’ on behalf of my ‘Father’.” Izaya put air quotes around the two words, his tone dripping with enough bitterness to make Shizuo crave a cake from the café down the street.

But he ignored the sudden urge, focusing instead on the plight within Izaya’s words.

“You’re a Prince of Hell?” He asked in astonishment, trying to resist the urge to look around at the shitty apartment this royal prince was living in. “You’re supposed to be _ruling_ one of these cities instead of camping in its slummiest, low-rent districts?”

“Technically.” Izaya muttered, evidently not as impressed with the idea as Shizuo was. “Each Prince is assigned a Sin to embody and refine within their city, one of the deadly sins that humans display in prominence.”

He glared up at Shizuo, red eyes glittering with untold irritation and rage. “I’m the Prince of Despair.” He said shortly, arms crossing tightly over his torso again. “The good, old forgotten eighth sin of mankind. My predecessor didn’t do shit to encourage it among her demon city, so it quickly lost traction among humans, and I certainly didn’t care to revive it. It’s better left forgotten, anyway.”

“What is Despair supposed to be like?” Shizuo wondered slowly, looking Izaya up and down. “Is it just…feeling sad all the time?”

Izaya snorted at that, shaking his head from side to side. “No. It’s more like a complete loss of faith and purpose. Moving entirely away from the morals and religions of the world to sink into the desperation of believing that nothing exists and nothing cares, and that you have no point existing in the world because of that.”

He held a fist up in the air, giving Shizuo a sarcastic grin. “So all aboard nihilists and atheists for the best Sin out there, am I right?” He joked, though there was no humor in the statement. He sighed and lowered his fist again, closing his eyes as he leaned further against the dresser.

“I haven’t done any of my duties as the Prince of Despair since taking my title.” He muttered, seemingly unwilling to look at Shizuo. “I haven’t rebuilt my predecessor’s abandoned city. I haven’t made a bunch of speeches trying to convert demons to my Sin. I haven’t met with the Kings and other Princes for advisory meetings about the laws of Hell. I barely even acknowledged Lucifer legally as my Father just over a century ago, and he knows I only call him my Father to be politically correct. I don’t think of him as a parent by any means of the word, even if he claims to ‘love’ me as an adopted son.”

Izaya opened his eyes again, staring at his feet on the floor. “On top of that, I had to send my sisters away instead of letting them live with me.” He muttered, guilt flickering over his eyes at that. “Too many reporters always hunting me down, demanding I start my Princely duties. People were starting to approach them, interrogating them if they were the reasons I wasn’t doing what I should’ve been. I couldn’t put them through that, so I sent them off ages ago. We only meet up every now and then, and I keep tabs on how they’re doing in school and whatnot.”

_“They must still be pretty young if they’re only in school.”_ Shizuo thought to himself, a little pity overcoming him as he watched Izaya’s downcast features. _“He had to give up everything for this Prince title, and he didn’t even want it. No wonder he’s been avoiding all his responsibilities.”_

“So…you’re the defendant this year since you haven’t been doing your job?” Shizuo finally asked aloud, deciding to steer the topic away from Izaya’s family situation.

Izaya seemed relieved by the change of subject, nodding once at Shizuo’s question and looking up to meet the blonde’s eyes. “It seems so.” Izaya said casually, arms lowering from before his chest. “I’m going to have to battle some upstart demon who thinks they’ll make a smashing Prince, and if I don’t give it my all, I’ll be executed. Father probably won’t change me from the defendant position, either, if he’s serious enough to put me on the chopping block. Even if I go and ask him to like I told Amon I would.”

Izaya hummed as he cocked his head at Shizuo, seeming lost in thought about the prospect of approaching his father (or his adopted father, at any rate) over the issue.

“Father always liked me way too much.” The demon muttered, musing to himself aloud. “No matter how much I shirked him, he’d coo and fawn over me back when I attended those awful ‘family dinners’ with the other royals. Had me sit next to him so he could pet my head and gush over how proud of me he was. I was, without a doubt, one of his favorite adoptees.”

Izaya huffed at that, shaking his head once more. “If he’s willing to put me on the line after all these years, he must’ve really gotten serious about me paying attention to my duties.” The red-eyed demon muttered. “He’s giving me a warning. If I don’t shape up, he’ll cut me loose.”

“Isn’t that what you want, though?” Shizuo pointed out, frowning as he watched Izaya. “I mean, sure, it might be a bit disgraceful to lose your position, but wouldn’t you be happier?”

“A noble who loses their title is considered pure scum in the demon world.” Izaya remarked instantly. “Not only were you bad at your job, but you were displaced from that job by a more powerful demon. Exiled nobles usually get blacklisted and end up on streets or doing menial security positions, even with all their incredible power. If I lost my title as Prince, I _still_ wouldn’t be able to make a decent, human-centric living.”

He was caught between a rock and a hard place. He didn’t want anything to do with the royal world, and had told everybody as such for centuries. But the expectations were there on him nonetheless, perpetuating his misery. But if he failed to retain his unwanted title, he’d become even more miserable by being outcast from society.

Shizuo had no idea the cheerful HR rep had been dealing with so much.

“I’ll talk to my Father this weekend.” Izaya declared aloud, pulling Shizuo’s attention back to him. “But when he tells me to fight in the Crown Game anyway, I’ll have to start actually training for it. And if I retain my title…I’ll have to do something with it before Father takes my head himself.”

Shizuo winced at the imagery, watching as Izaya finally stood up from the dresser and walked out of the room.

“I’d been hoping that your presence could help buy me some extra time before he tried something like this.” Izaya called over his shoulder as he walked to the kitchen, probably seeking out that last can of Fallen Angel shoved in the back of the fridge. “I guess I overestimated his patience, though.”

“ _My_ presence?” Shizuo repeated in bafflement, walking after Izaya and staring at the demon as he rummaged through the fridge. “What would I contribute to all this?”

“You would’ve made it seem like I was doing my job.” Izaya sighed, pulling his head out of the fridge and slamming the door closing, bright-green can in hand. “A Prince is supposed to choose a human vessel to embody their Sin, one that they keep in Hell as a testament to their power and their creed. See, the human acts out the Sin as the Prince envisions it being, and since we demons get our powers from sinning humans, the vessel is symbolic of how sinners of Earth will fuel the power of the Prince by following his or her creed.”

“Is…Is _that_ why you offered to let me live down here for a few months?” Shizuo demanded in disbelief, pieces of the puzzle suddenly clicking together as Izaya cracked open the can. “So you could show off your human and pretend you were choosing a vessel?”

“Something like that.” Izaya waved a hand in the air, taking a swig from the can carelessly. “Of course, it would’ve been too dangerous for you to walk around like a potential vessel, so I gave you a false oni form anyway. I was going to whip out the ‘look, he’s a human’ punchline towards the end of your contract with me so you could beat on back to Earth before the tabloids descended.”

Izaya shrugged and drank again, smacking his lips as he grinned dryly at Shizuo. “But unfortunately, my Father’s timetable for me to get my act together was a bit shorter than my own.”

Shizuo leaned against the doorway to the kitchen, trying to take all this information in.

Izaya was a Prince of Hell, one of the adopted sons of Lucifer himself. He didn’t _want_ to be a Prince, and it sounded like he’d initially joined the Crown Game to get him and his sisters off the streets. As a plus, he wanted to earn a decent salary while interacting with humans. He’d been avoiding anything Princely for a few centuries, and as a result, Lucifer was pinning him up as a target for a bunch of bloodthirsty demons to try and take down. If he lost, he’d be exiled and miserable for life. If he won, he’d had to start being an actual Prince, and he’d still be miserable.

There was also something in there about Shizuo being a fake vessel for Izaya, but seeing as that plan was out of the works with the Crown Game, he’d just ignore it.

After Shizuo thought through all of these things for several minutes, Izaya simply chugging down the can of Fallen Angel before him, the blonde finally collected himself enough to speak.

“Is there any way I can help?”

Izaya paused in his drinking, raising an eyebrow at Shizuo as his red eyes glittered curiously.

“You’re in a rough spot, Izaya.” Shizuo continued before the raven could say something annoying to make him change his mind. “Even if I was a convenient pawn for you, you’ve helped me out during my time here in Hell. I’m honestly at the most stable, peaceful point I’ve ever reached in my life, and it’s because of you and your deal. Fifty years’ penance or not, this trial deal has been worth it in helping me figure out how to put my strength to good use and actually interact in a society.”

Shizuo knew he’d still have problems when he went back to Earth after this – namely because superhuman strength wasn’t quite as normal up there as it was down here – but with all those oni yoga classes and strength training exercises at work that he’d been going through, he genuinely felt like he had a much better handle on his strength and his anger than before.

He could build a life for himself once he got back, thanks to Izaya’s deal. That was something no power on Earth had been able to give him. Izaya, as corny as it sounded, had changed his life.

He needed to help the raven in return.

“I can go with you to meet your Father if you want.” Shizuo pressed forward, taking advantage of Izaya’s stunned silence to keep his point going. “I can pretend to be a vessel, just like you mentioned, and maybe he’ll call off your defendant position when he sees you’ve been working on your Princely duties behind the scenes. At the very least, if you still have to fight, I can help you train for the next month until the Game.”

Izaya and Shizuo’s eyes met over the lid of the can, the former still eying him with disbelief over his offer, and the latter still glaring in pure determination.

Slowly, Izaya lowered the can from his lips, letting the now-empty metal canister hang limply from his fingers. He cocked his head at Shizuo, humming in deep thought as his red eyes narrowed to slits of concentration.

“I suppose…help wouldn’t be that unwanted.” He murmured, claws tapping against the metal. “And you _do_ owe me for all the wonderful things I’ve done for you since you arrived.”

“Ignoring your incessant pranks, mockeries, morning slime dumps, insults, and general whininess, sure.” Shizuo said flatly, waving off the pout Izaya gave him in response. “I owe you, Izaya. So let me help.”

Izaya walked to the trash can in the kitchen, crumpling up the can with a thoughtful expression as he hurled it in. “Amon offered to help, too.” He mumbled, almost to himself as he stood before the trash can. “The two of you are so unpredictable.”

Shizuo wasn’t sure how he felt about being compared with Amon in the same sentence, but he decided to let it go for now.

Izaya looked like he was genuinely considered the proposition.

Eventually, the demon spun around and faced Shizuo, planting his hands on his hips. “Okay, Shizu-chan!” He chirped, seemingly back to his annoyingly cheerful self. “I’ll take you up on that offer. Keep your schedule clear this weekend because,”

He batted his eyelashes suggestively at Shizuo, clasping his hands in mock-shyness as he shot the taller man a sly grin. “You’re going to meet my ‘family’.”

Despite Izaya’s lighthearted flirting as he said that, Shizuo couldn’t stop the feeling of dread that shot through him at hearing that.

Because the reality of what he’d promised to do crashed down on him in a single instant.

He was going to face down Lucifer, the ruler of Hell.

…Shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S BEEN REVEALED!!!! So those of you who were banking on Izaya's father being the ruler of Hell were indeed correct - though maybe not necessarily in the way you were thinking. He's a prince alright, though, so congrats to those of you who called it! 
> 
> Now the question is simply how the family dinner is going to go in the next few chapters... XD I'm sure _that_ won't be a problem! 
> 
> In any case, thank you all so much for reading - hope to see you with the next chapter! <3

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this little opening chapter! Let me know what you think down in the comments below.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading "Heart of Hell"!! <3


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